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It has been nearly a decade since the PGA last made a stop at
"The Most Magical Place on Earth" but the Tour said that under
the right conditions it would happily consider a return. "We
enjoyed an incredibly successful partnership with Walt Disney
World Resort from 1971-2012," the PGA Tour told Reuters in an
email.
"For a potential new event, if the necessary ingredients are in
place – title sponsor, available date in Tour schedule that
makes sense, player support, community support, charitable
partner, successful long-term outlook -- there would be
consideration made."
More recently Disney World Golf's attention has shifted away
from providing a stage for professionals to the general public
with its three championship layouts pulling in about 200,000
rounds annually.
Four decades of crowning champions like Woods, Nicklaus and
Payne Stewart has left a legacy that Disney World Golf continues
to benefit from as casual golfers drive, chip and putt around
layouts that have hosted the game's greats.
But Nicklaus, Woods and Stewart are yesterday's heroes and at
some point paying customers will be looking to match themselves
up on tracks that the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm
have won on.
"We honour our history and we're always looking to build upon
it," Bruce Gerlander, general manager of Walt Disney World Golf,
told Reuters. "We certainly have the expertise and facilities to
stage world-class events on iconic courses if the right
opportunity presented itself for all concerned."
Disney was dropped from the PGA Tour schedule for the 2013–14
wrap-around season after Children's Miracle Network declined to
renew their sponsorship and no others were found.
DEEPER CONNECTION
But Disney has a deeper connection with golf than some of the
current venues hosting PGA and LPGA events.
Long before the Florida amusement park opened for business in
1971, golf was the sport of choice for Disney characters.
Donald Duck and his nephew caddies Huey, Dewey and Louie
appeared in a golf-themed cartoon in 1938 as did Mickey Mouse
and Pluto in the 1941 "Canine Caddy". The 1944 classic "How to
Play Golf" featured Goofy.
In 1971 golf got real at the Magic Kingdom, however, with
Nicklaus winning the first of three consecutive Disney Classics.
"Disney made a great contribution to the game," said Nicklaus.
"They’ve had golf everywhere where they’ve been."
Disney then became a fixture on the PGA Tour, the 20-year-old
Woods in 1996 picking up his second career title at Walt Disney
World and winning again in 1999.
Disney World's partnership with the PGA Tour ended in 2012 when
Charlie Beljan collecting his one and only PGA Tour win but in
2011 Disney was the focus of the golf world as Britain Luke
Donald battled Webb Simpson to finish top of the PGA Tour money
list.
Donald beat Justin Leonard by two shots to complete an historic
double, becoming the first player to win both money lists on the
PGA and European Tours in the same year.
"I remember Webb Simpson, who I was competing against for the
money title he played the week before and got ahead of me by a
couple of hundred thousand dollars so forced my hand to play,"
Donald told Reuters.
"We actually played all four rounds together with an eye on each
and we knew the money title was on the line and possibly player
of the year and a lot of other things that go along with it.
"And Donald Duck was there he presented the trophy, kind of
funny Luke Donald and Donald Duck."
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, Editing by Ed Osmond)
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