Whats up with that?

Has something to do with Wells Fargo's purchase of Wachovia. I like the name better as Quail Hollow Championship though.

yea i agree with you on that

Maybe you've heard of the small problems the financial institutions have been having lately? The banks in the 'bail-out' are out of the sponsorship business these days...

Northern Trust took a lot of grief after taking federal bailout money and then hosting huge parties associated with the NT Open. Wells didn't want to go through that with the name association. I believe that through the Wachovia purchase they are still obligated to the event for a few years but don't take that as gospel.

In actuality, the tournament is still being funded through Wachovia, now owned by Wells Fargo. But to avert negative PR the tournaments name was changed so that the average individual with an IQ below 110 wouldn't think anything other than, "oh, I guess Wachovia dropped sponsorship for this tournament."

I was actually wondering if they did that or if they organized some type of contract buyout to get out of their obligation early - do you know one way or the other for sure?

read about it here

Wells Fargo is still paying for it, just dropped the name

+1 Bump.

I hope this is a trend towards calling the championships according to place names instead of the conceited company/sponsor name. At least put the place name in it somewhere, such as this week, with "Zurich Classic of New Orleans," or "Shell Houston Open" and stuff like that. I hope they bring back the place names. It's much nicer sounding than some power-trip company name thing.

Do you know what advertising and marketing is?

I disagree with your comment and views about the conceited power trip company name thing. If it were not for MAJOR corporations stepping up and forking out the cash, you wouldn't be watching pro sports (baseball, basketball, hockey, etc.) in nice arenas and stadiums like The STAPLES Center or Bank of America Stadium. Who do you think pays the bills and paychecks at tour events? The PGA TOUR? Hardly... If it were not for these major companies putting their name out there (which again is called advertising and marketing) the PGA Tour would look as pityful as the LPGA tour... Think about it.

So let them be 'conceited' so you can watch it on TV every week and enjoy it.

And I'll be at the Wachovia/Wells Fargo/ Quail Hallow Championship all week. And then playing the course on Monday after the tourney.

Aha! The exact reply I was looking for!

It's conceited because they don't have to call it a "Northern Trust Open" or whatever - they can very well call it "The L.A. Open, sponsored by Northern Trust."

It's totally conceited and self-indulgent.

And those corporations are the ones who put us in this crappy economy in the first place - didn't you see them dealing with your moneys all over the market frivolously and wastefully?

Did you ever think that maybe the actual tournament committee might have a say in it as well? A friend of mine is on a PGA Tour Tournament Committee and they went through the process of changing the name a few times and it was always a subject of debate. And at one point, they asked the local city to help choose the name. You say conceited, I say it's business. Besides, I like tournaments named "The John Deere Classic" and The VERIZON Heritage. I don't see anything wrong with it. It's the same tournament no matter what it's called. The MASTERS could be called THE McDonald's MASTERS for all I care. It's the course, the players, the history, the volunteers and community that make it nice, not the name...

And yes, it's sad to see some major corporations blow money in wasteful ways. But you make it sound like it's EVERY corporation. There are some smart companies out there, I promise. And my money is with them. In the past year, my money (savings, money market, 401k, ROTH IRA, Annuities, etc) is up 32% because I was smart and watched what was going on. The writing was on the wall. I pulled out of so much stock last year that would have cost me close to 100K in losses had I kept it all in place and turned it around and put it in the right places to make sure I was going to get a return or at WORSE break even. So it wasn't my money these idiots were playing with... And besides, consumers aren't innocent either.

Anyway, we're off track. I've made my point and you voiced your opinion. And neither of these will change anything...

I disagree. There used to be days when they were called "The L.A. Open" and that was it.

They should go back to that, but with the "sponsored by.........." added. Then we can come to a middle ground.

I must say I actually feel kind of bad for Wells Fargo (I know I am setting myself up for a lot of criticism with this statement). They are stuck with the bill but they can't use the tournament as a great marketing opportunity (especially in light of the fact that Tiger will be playing). Wells wanted to raise their own private capital, but they were obligated to accept TARP money. I guess my point is that Wells Fargo shouldn't be forced to hide their name from the tournament (but I suppose that is the world we live in today).

I'll be there for a practice round or two, and then Thursday. You are a lucky s.o.b. to be playing it Monday!

If you don't mind me asking, why are you playing it Monday after the tournament?

Going to be a fun week though, got tickets for the whole week but probably not going to go on Tuesday since its the last day of classes.

"And those corporations are the ones who put us in this crappy economy in the first place - didn't you see them dealing with your moneys all over the market frivolously and wastefully?"

Please stop watching the news and CNBC for all your personal opinions. We were overdue for a bear market by almost 3 years. Trees don't grow to the sky and the market doesn't just keep going up and up.

Also, just because a corporation sponsors a golf tournament and wants to be aligned with the PGA Tour doesn't mean they are conceited or self indulgent. The Torrey Pines invitational doesn't have the same "ring" as The Buick. Everyone knows where "The Buick" is played and it will be forever remembered as "The Buick." The PGA also doesn't call it "The Master's at Augusta, Georgia" do they? At least be consistent in your logic if you are going to complain.

I wasn't talking about the Majors - I was talking about the tournaments that do have sponsor names as THE name of the tournament. You're reaching in order to make yourself sound more logical.

Why Monday AFTER? Because they won't let me play it the week before... Apparently the tournament is more important than me playing with clients...

As someone siad before me...you really should stop watching so much CNN. The corporations did not hold a gun to people's heads and force them into stretching themselves too thin on mortgages. And money spent in marketing is never frivolous. THe sad thing is the in a downward trend like now too many companies stop or cut marketing which actually hurts them for a longer period of time.