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golf in the new millennium |
A Business Week Special Advertising Section |
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The world of golf will come together again at The Presidents Cup, the competition between teams from the PGA TOUR and the rest of the world, not including Europe, at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Lake Manassas, VA, Oct. 19-22. This competition, which takes its cues from the phenomenally popular Ryder Cup between the U.S. and Europe, will be played over four days this year instead of three because of the decreasing amount of daylight available in October. The U.S. team is still smarting from a 20‡ to 11‡ defeat in the third Presidents Cup played at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1998, an indication of just how strong the level of talent is around the globe. The expected sellout crowd of 22,000 will get an extra day to see the world's best in match play competition. Increasingly, professional golfers are looked at as athletes rather than merely as skilled game players. This is due in part to how they currently view themselves. Physical fitness has become the rage on the PGA TOUR and is aided in no small measure by the HealthSouth Fitness Centers, two 48-foot workout facilities that travel to every event on the PGA TOUR and the SENIOR PGA TOUR. "More and more players are using these facilities to improve their games," says Curtis Strange, TOUR player, ABC golf analyst and 2001 Ryder Cup Captain. "It's not just about hitting balls at the range anymore. You look at all the work David Duval has done on his fitness, and how it paid off for him. And you look at what someone like Fred Funk has done, worked out, made himself stronger and made himself more competitive. The strength aspect of the game can't be overlooked."
For the second consecutive year, the TOUR season begins in Hawaii, first at the Mercedes Championship on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, then to Oahu for the Sony Open in Hawaii. Those two tournaments and the following six, from the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic through the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and concluding with the Touchstone Energy Tucson Open and Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship, comprise the PGA Tour West Coast Swing. Buick Motor Division of General Motors continues its support of the PGA TOUR going into the New Millennium with its continuing sponsorship of four events-the Buick Invitational at San Diego, Buick Classic at Rye, NY, Buick Open at Flint, MI and Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens, GA.From Hawaii to Spain, from Canada to Florida, the PGA TOUR continues to expand its presence in the world of golf, just as its players continue to expand their influence over the game. The New Millennium promises only more and better competition, more and better players. And whether those players come from Europe, Asia or South America, whether they come from America's heartland or the heart of urban America, they all will come to play the PGA TOUR, where the best play the best. |
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