Shriners to be title sponsor

Beginning next October and through 2012, the tournament will be called the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and will be played exclusively at TPC Summerlin.

The Shriners are committing $6 million annually to keep the event in town with their name on it.

“We want to help the tournament in Las Vegas grow, and we’ve made a five-year commitment,” said Ralph Semb, the Shriners’ chairman of the board of trustees. “We’re happy to let the Las Vegas community know that we’re here to stay.”

The Shriners replace Fry’s Electronics, whose two-year commitment as the tournament’s title sponsor ended Sunday.

“We think it’s going to be a long-term marriage,” tournament chairman Gary Davis said of his event’s association with the Shriners, who operate 22 hospitals in the United States, Canada and Mexico to assist children with various afflictions at no charge. “We appreciate the support from Fry’s the last two years. Without it, we might not be here (in Las Vegas).

“Now, we’re looking to build this tournament with the Shriners.”

The format will change as well next year. Instead of a two-day Pro-Am, a celebrity Pro-Am will be held Wednesday, with the pros playing exclusively Thursday through Sunday. This year, amateurs paid $12,000 to play, and Davis said they will be offered a similar opportunity to be part of next year’s one-day celebrity Pro-Am, though he wasn’t sure what the cost would be.

“We want to go back to the roots of this tournament with the new format,” Davis said. “We want to attract a celebrity crowd and hope that the people who come out to watch the celebrities on Wednesday will want to come back and watch the pros play the rest of the week.”

Davis said the purse for next year’s event, which is scheduled for the week of Oct. 6-12, will remain at $4 million. He also said the tournament remains in discussions with the PGA Tour about moving the event to the spring in the hopes of attracting a better field.

“Our ultimate goal is to get back into the FedEx points system,” he said of his tournament, which currently is part of the Tour’s post-FedEx Cup Fall Series. “The PGA Tour is totally supportive of Las Vegas and this event, and they’re working with us.”

• NO ACE, NO CAR — Had someone carded a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th hole Sunday, a lucky fan would have driven away in a Ferrari sports car.

But no one aced the 196-yard hole, so the car valued at $350,000 remained ownerless. No aces were recorded at either course the entire week.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2913.