Milwaukee TOUR stop organization shuts down

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MILWAUKEE -- The organization that handles the annual PGA TOUR stop in Milwaukee is dissolving after failing to find a sponsor, leaving the future of professional golf in the area on shaky ground.

Tournament director Dan Croak said Thursday the organization has run out of money after paying its bills and other financial obligations, including a donation of more than $520,000 to charities.

"We have run out of funds and, thus, cannot continue to operate," Croak said in a statement. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported the organizers' decision to dissolve.

"Upon receiving notification from U.S. Bank early this year of its decision not to continue title sponsorship of Milwaukee's PGA TOUR tournament after 2009, the TOUR and Milwaukee Golf Charities initiated a search for a potential new sponsor," the TOUR said in a statement. "Unfortunately, those efforts to this point have not been successful. The TOUR remains interested in having a tournament presence in Wisconsin and will continue to explore opportunities in the future.

"The PGA TOUR is most appreciative of the support the tournament has received since its inception in 1968 from the city of Milwaukee, the state of Wisconsin and, of course, the thousands of volunteers. Our thanks go to tournament director Dan Croak and his staff for their hard work and dedication, as well as their commitment to the TOUR's charitable mission."

The tournament, originally known as the Greater Milwaukee Open, has been in operation since 1968. Among its notable moments was Tiger Woods' professional debut in 1996.

But the tournament's popularity had been in decline of late, especially after it recently was moved to a date opposite the British Open and U.S. Bank announced its sponsorship of the tournament was ending.

PGA TOUR chief of operations Rick George said the search for a company to sponsor the Milwaukee event continues, but acknowledges no significant progress has been made.

"At this point, we don't have anything positive to report," George said. "We've been working with them since we knew U.S. Bank was going away, and we'll continue to look for sponsorship. For our membership, we want an event opposite the British Open. Even though they're shutting down, it doesn't mean we can't find a sponsor. It's just tough right now."

For now, George said, the tournament's organizers are doing the right thing.

"Until we find a sponsor, you're spending money you don't have," George said.

A pair of players with strong Wisconsin ties, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker, have pledged their support to keeping the PGA TOUR alive in the area and finding a title sponsor. But their plan has not come to fruition yet.

"I'm confident in the work that we've done," Kelly said after playing the tournament in July. "After watching the golf tournament and the turnout, I'd bump it (odds of getting a sponsor) up to about 90 percent."