Cellular South "committed about $300,000 to sponsor" yesterday's Pro-Am ahead of this week's PGA Tour St. Jude Classic, and Cellular South President & CEO Hu Meena said that the company "may do even more in the future -- perhaps by becoming the title sponsor" of the tournament itself, according to Scott Cacciola of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. Meena: "It's something that we're certainly considering." Cellular South's sponsorship of the Pro-Am event is a "significant boost to a tournament in desperate need of funding," and "any news on the title-sponsor front is good news for local officials and for the PGA Tour, which has been scrambling to recruit a company to replace Stanford Financial." Stanford Financial had a contract as the event's title sponsor through '16 but the company's relationship with the tournament "collapsed when it was accused of 'massive fraud'" by the SEC in February. But Cacciola notes in Stanford's absence this year, there is an "unmistakable sense around the course that the event has returned to its roots." If there are "nods to corporate benefactors, they are unobtrusive: The tournament is being 'presented by FedEx,' which the PGA Tour, in a statement, explained was done to recognize FedEx's longstanding support of the event and 'its importance to the Memphis community.'" Also, Tournament Dir Phil Cannon said that "several local companies, including AutoZone, chipped in this spring to help fill a substantial void" left by Stanford ( Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/11 ). PURSE DROP : Tournament officials said that this weekend's event will have a $5.6M purse, down from $6.1M last year. Sources said that Stanford Financial "already had paid an undisclosed amount toward its sponsorship obligation." PGA Tour Exec VP & Chief of Operations Rick George: "We are pleased that despite the absence of a title sponsor, the tournament will be staged." But GOLFWEEK's Alex Miceli reports the Buick Open from July 30-August 2 "could be another matter," as the fate of the tournament is "ensnared in General Motors' recent bankruptcy filing." Sources said that payment for Buick's title sponsorship is "due within 10 days of the start" of the event. If GM "does not get permission from the bankruptcy judge to make a payment believed to be about $5[M], the PGA Tour could go dark for that week." Golfer Kenny Perry: "I hope they don't just kick them out the door. The guys are going to have to understand that we're going to have to give in a little bit here and the purses are going to drop" ( GOLFWEEK, 6/13 issue ).
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