Posted at 12:15 p.m., Wednesday, February 7, 2007
International no longer on PGA Tour schedule
Advertiser Staff and News Services
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Dean Wilson, a Castle High alum, will not be able to defend his breakthrough PGA Tour title in 2007.The International, known for its unique scoring system on a Castle Pines golf course held in the mile-high air outside Denver, will no longer be on the PGA Tour schedule effective immediately, a tour official said Wednesday.
Wilson, who grew up in Kaneohe, captured the title last year for his first PGA Tour win.
The loss of the 21-year-old tournament was primarily due to lack of a corporate sponsor, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not formally been announced.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem and tournament founder Jack Vickers are expected to make it official Thursday morning.
That leaves a hole in the PGA Tour schedule on July 5-8, but tour officials have been working on a contingency plan over the last month and are expected to announce a replacement by April.
The leading candidate is Washington, the largest U.S. market without a PGA Tour event. The nation's capital had a tour event since 1968, but that presumably ended when title sponsor Booz Allen bailed out last year because it was not part of the FedExCup portion of the PGA Tour schedule.
Other markets under consideration are Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Kansas City.
The tour official said there was sponsorship interest in several major markets, although none of those sponsors was interested in the International.
