PODS Championship Returns To Innisbrook March 3-9, Then Begins Search For New Title Sponsor |
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The greatest golfers on the PGA TOUR return to the Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club March 3-9 for the Tampa Bay area’s second year on the Florida Swing. Mark Calcavecchia won the fi rst PODS Championship in 2007 by one shot over Heath Slocum and J
hn Senden in an exciting finish that went down to the final putt. He had opened with a sloppy 75, but then changed to a putter he had impulsively bought earlier in the week at a golf store, and seemed to make everything. He put himself in the lead with a 62 on Saturday, then withstood all challengers to win his 13th PGA TOUR event by carding a 70 for a final total of 10-under-par. Calc went on from there to have a sensational year, fi nishing 13th on the final PGA TOUR Offi cial Money List with nearly $3 million in earnings. More excitement should be afoot in 2008 – the first tournament to be held on the Copperhead Course since the purchase of Innisbrook by Salamander Hospitality last spring. Tickets are now on sale for the event at a number of locations, including most Tampa Bay area Publix Supermarkets and by logging on to www.PODSChampionship.com. In late November 2007, title sponsor PODS notified Suncoast Golf Classic, which runs the event, that it would end its sponsorship after the 2008 tournament. PODS exercised a clause in their agreement that allowed them to opt out after two years. PODS is based in Clearwater but is likely to be sold. “I have nothing but positive things to say about PODS and their sponsorship,” said tournament director Gerald Goodman. “Our main focus right now is the 2008 tournament and making it the best we can. Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” [exerts from the St. Petersburg Times] |
