There's uncertainty surrounding the future of the PGA Tour having an event in Las Vegas after current title sponsor Shriners Children's Hospital withdrew from hosting duties - as revealed by the publication the Review-Journal.
JT Poston won the latest Shriners Children's Open as part of the Fall schedule on the PGA Tour this past Sunday, and it looks like being the last with the long-time title sponsors withdrawing their support for the event after almost two decades.
“We have enjoyed a tremendous 18 years as the host and title sponsor of the Shriners Children’s Open,” said Shriners sports vice president Bob Roller to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“The opportunity to tell our incredible stories of the more than 1.6 million children that have received care from Shriners was, and always is, our primary goal.
“The PGA Tour has been a tremendous partner along the way, and we thank them and the entire Las Vegas/Summerlin community."
The Review-Journal also states the PGA Tour has confirmed that Shriners have ended the sponsorship deal - which leaves the future of the tournament in serious doubt.
One of the longest-running events on the PGA Tour, there's been a tournament in Vegas since 1983 with some memorable moments over its 42-year history.
Firstly knows as the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro-Celebrity Classic it was a five-round epic from its inception right through until switching to the traditional 72-hole format in 2004.
The first $1m prize pool in PGA Tour history was on offer in the 1984 edition, while Tiger Woods won his first professional tournament at the 1996 event.
Now without a sponsor, the PGA Tour and tournament organizers will now try to secure a replacement in time to keep the event on the schedule for the 2025 season - much of which has been released but not the fall portion.
Seven new title sponsors were added for the 2024 season, extending the run of fully-sponsored schedules to seven straight years, but it remains to be seen if one can be attracted to Las Vegas.
Increased prize money on the main portion of the PGA Tour season, and the introduction of Signature Events has meant the fall series events have struggled for both eyeballs and sponsorship, with prize money falling in all but one of them this season.
The PGA Tour can step in and sponsor an event in Las Vegas for one year to keep it running if a sponsor isn't found in time, but that's become a rarity in recent years so it may be that one of the most longest-running stops on the circuit comes to an end.
