PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida — With American Honda ending its longtime relationship with the local PGA Tour event, Palm Beach County was looking at losing its biggest sporting event.
Without a title sponsor, the tournament formerly known as the Honda Classic held in northern Palm Beach County for more than two decades, was in danger of being replaced.
“My first job at the Tour was selling title sponsors,” said Matt Rapp, senior vice president of the PGA Tour Championship Management division. “What I used to say, ‘No title, no tournament.’ ”
Then the Tour stepped in, handing control of the event to its championship management division and signing a six-year deal with Cognizant as new title sponsor.
Now, the Tour is all in on making the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches one of the marquee events on the schedule.
“The Tour was determined to make sure this event continued and thrived and the charities continued to receive their necessary dollars,” Rapp said. “The Tour took it upon themselves to say, ‘OK, if we’re going to do this, then we’re going to manage the event.’ ”
Championship management took over control of the event from IMG last year and is working hand-in-hand with Cognizant to grow it by boosting the field and continuing to help it thrive outside the ropes.
And it has guaranteed the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation will remain the primary charitable beneficiary of the tournament, which it has been since 2007.
“We see this event quickly rising being brought up to that level we see in our other biggest events on Tour,” Rapp said. “Often times it’s not one big thing or two big things, it’s maybe a thousand small things that make for a much, much better experience overall.”
So what is the PGA Tour Championship Management division and how can this be the spark this event needs to return to what it was for the first 10 years since moving to PGA National in 2007?
The championship management division oversees the Tour’s biggest events. Among them, the Presidents Cup, Tour Championship, Players Championship, Sentry and St. Jude Championship, which is the first FedEx Cup playoff event.
That means experience in building events from the inside out and then continuing to help them evolve.
This group employs experts in every important field, including ticketing, marketing, operations, tournament services and sales.
“When you look at the history of The Players … first stadium course, first course to have electronic scoreboards, first to have video boards, first tournament with an active Twitter,” Rapp said. “A lot of innovations by design (because) the Tour is based there.
“Those facilities were built with the idea of how to stage the perfect golf tournament and we’ve been on that quest ever since. Now that we’re overseeing this event you’ll see those types of improvements. Most of them won’t be visible this year. Next year it will look pretty dramatically different.”
And none of this would have been possible without Cognizant stepping up.
“There are instances where big community companies will come together and make a bridge and others will come in,” Rapp said. “But those things are short-term solutions, they can happen one, maybe two years. It doesn’t happen very much anymore. The numbers are too daunting.
“We thought we would get a title but thinking you’re going to get a title and have somebody sign on the dotted line, a multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment … For the long-term success of an event, you have to have engaged sponsorship.”
IMG ran the event for several years on behalf of Children Health Care Charities. IMG remains involved, but it now answers to the Tour. Although the event continued to grow under IMG’s leadership when it comes to attendence, charitable contributions and build out, the field suffered in recent years, mostly a result of the schedule, which is set by the Tour.
Now, the PGA Tour taking over control of the event has to resonate some with the players and we have seen a major uptick in the field this year. But adjusting the schedule by adding a week between the end of the West Coast Swing and Cognizant, which starts the Florida Swing, is a huge factor.
“This has been only three months,” said Joie Chitwood, Cognizant’s interim executive director for 2024 who will be replaced by Todd Fleming following this year’s event. “With this (year) under our belt in ’25, ’26, get ready. You’re going to see us continue to look at ways we can change the experience, add to it. If there are more fans out there, we’re going to get them.
“This event will continue to be a long-term stop on the PGA Tour schedule. It’s not going anywhere. Get ready, buckle up, we’re going to go fast and it’s going to get even better.”
Tom D’Angelo is a sports columnist and reporter at The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on social media @tomdangelo44.
