Columnist: Ron Kantowski on being teed off by LVCVA slap in the face to sponsorless LV Invitational

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 | 9:40 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

When it was learned that the Michelin Championship at Las Vegas was losing the "Michelin" part of its title because of the tire company pulling its sponsorship, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority had another chance to bail out one of the valley's longest-standing major league sporting events.

Instead, on the very day the tournament that began 23 years ago as the Las Vegas Invitational became known as that again, the LVCVA announced plans to spend $4.5 million to bring the so-called "Grand Slam of Golf," which is not a major league sporting event, to Las Vegas.

I'll bet LVI manager Charlie Baron's cheek is still smarting from the slap in the face.

The Grand Slam of Golf is one of those "silly season" post-tour events that is one step above the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge at Lake Las Vegas, where the players change clothes at the turn to fool TV viewers into thinking it is played over two days.

In theory, it brings together the winners of pro golf's four majors -- the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and the PGA Championship -- for a two-day competition. Its primary attraction is that Tiger Woods usually qualifies.

But his participation isn't mandatory. First, he has to win one of the majors. OK, so that's not an issue. But then you have to hope he doesn't have a "prior commitment," the excuse Retief Goosen used to bail on this year's Slam set for Nov. 22-23 in Hawaii.

The Grand Slam of Golf pays $400,000 to win, which is $320,000 less than what journeyman Wes Short collected for winning last month's Michelin Championship. And how big can it be if it is played on Monday and Tuesday -- when it is played, that is.

Although the Grand Slam of Golf was thought up on a cocktail napkin in 1979, it wasn't even held from 1983 to 1985 and in 1987. (Come to think, that would be a pretty good strategy for something like the Las Vegas Bowl. Just play in the years it strikes your fancy, or BYU is bowl-eligible.)

I guess the main reason the LVCVA was so eager to make the Grand Slam a fivesome is its TV deal with TNT. It is televised in prime time to more than 88.9 million homes, according to the PGA of America. But only if the Monday Night Football game is a dud. If the Colts and Patriots are playing, you can probably subtract half of those 88.9 million homes from the potential viewing audience.

LVCVA President Rossi Ralenkotter says the authority and the PGA would eventually like to piggyback the Grand Slam of Golf with the PGA Fall Expo trade show, set for Sept. 13-14 next year at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Good idea. An even better one might be golf leapfrog instead of golf piggyback. Why not combine the Grand Slam and trade show with the LVI for a weeklong celebration of golf?

The trade show would provide the competitive events with a built-in gallery, so they wouldn't have to be so reliant on local college and pro football fans dragging themselves off their living room sofas.

If the Grand Slam winners are coming to town anyway, either to play in a made-for-TV event or to introduce a new titanium driver with a club head the size of a whale at the trade show (as Woods did this year), how difficult would it be to entice them to play in the LVI?

If Woods and Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson were to play in the LVI, you might not have to drag football fans off the sofa or entice them with 2-for-1 tickets and a free Commodores concert (minus Lionel Richie, who must have had a "prior commitment").

Moreover, if the LVCVA were to throw the LVI a lifeline, it would preserve a fine community event that has raised more than $12 million for charity during its 23-year run. People tend to forget that.

Somebody in the LVCVA should have remembered it before improving its television lie.