PGA Tour to Start With T of C in ’86

SAN DIEGO —  Tom Watson believes the Tournament of Champions is a special tournament that deserves a special time slot. Thus, he’s pleased with the Professional Golf Assn.’s decision Tuesday to move the San Diego event from spring to winter next year.

Allard Rowen, Tournament of Champions general manager, said the T of C will become the “Super Bowl” of golf because of the switch.

Tom Morgan, executive director of the Century Club, which runs the Andy Williams-San Diego Open, said the switch will put once-friendly competitors into a situation neither wants.

The response was varied Tuesday after PGA Commissioner Deane Beman’s announcement that the MONY Tournament of Champions at the La Costa Hotel and Spa in Carlsbad will lead off the PGA Tour from Wednesday through Saturday, Jan. 8-11, 1986. It will be televised by NBC.

The annual tournament, featuring winners of tour events, has traditionally been held in late April or early May. This year, the tournament that was won by Tom Kite, was held in May.

“We’re very excited about leading off the golf season with an event as prestigious as the MONY T of C,” Beman said. “We regard it as highly important to begin our season in significant fashion, and these new dates for one of our most important tournaments accomplished that objective, as well as providing for a smoother geographic transition during the year.”

Watson said the PGA had to choose between moving the TOC to either the first tournament of the season or to sometime around the fifth or sixth week of the West Coast swing.

“They chose the better of the two,” Watson said, “and I think it will be well attended. . . .

“I don’t think there is much feeling among the players about the change, but I think it’s a good move. It’s a special tournament and a good way to lead off the season.”

Rowen agrees.

“The new dates make sense,” Rowen said, “because the TOC determines the champion among champions. Ours will be the first tournament of the new year coming shortly after the end of the tour season to determine the PGA tour’s best. It’s like the Super Bowl following the football season and the World Series following the baseball season. In other words, the TOC becomes the Super Bowl of golf.”

However, there is one big difference. The Super Bowl comes at the end of the season when players are used to playing competitively week-in, week-out. The golfers will be coming off vacation.

Watson does not think that golfers, many of whom will be rusty, would mind leading off the season with such a prestigious event. He added that he hopes the TOC opts to go with a smaller field, made up of winners from this year’s TOC through the end of the season.

There has been speculation that all the tournament winners from January 1985 through the end of the year would qualify for next year’s tournament.

“I think it would be a mistake if they had a larger field,” Watson said.

Morgan, however, did not share the sentiments of Watson or Beman.

The TOC will be played within a month of the Andy Williams-San Diego Open at Torrey Pines. The San Diego Open has yet to confirm its new sponsor, but the PGA has said it will return to Torrey Pines in 1986.

“Obviously, we’re not pleased to have the TOC moved into the front part of the schedule,” Morgan said. “I’m sure it will have an affect on us, but it’s hard to assess that effect at this point. It’s not an ideal situation by any means.”

Morgan is concerned the Pro-Am segment of the Andy Williams-San Diego Open, which accounts for a quarter of the tournament revenue, might be severely affected. Last year, the Pro-Am, played over both the North and South courses, sold out.

“I’m concerned about players who will play in both events,” Morgan said. “And if golf fans have to choose, it could hurt us.”