$1.25 million purse prize
Hamilton, Bermuda --- 12 Oct. 2006 ---Bermuda tourism
today announced a major coup with the news that one of the most
exclusive and prestigious tournaments in golf - featuring the world's
top players - is set to be hosted here next year.
The PGA Grand
Slam of Golf will see the winners of the sport's four majors duke it
out for a $1.25million prize purse on the island.
Tourism has
put up $1.5million to bring the tournament, which will most likely be
held at the Mid-Ocean club next November, to Bermuda.
Minister
Dr Ewart Brown said negotiations were in the final stages and a deal
would most likely be finalized and announced at this year's event.
The
'06 tournament is being held in Hawaii and will see Tiger Woods (winner
of the British Open and PGA Championship) defend his title against Mike
Weir, Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy.
The tournament is the most
exclusive in the game with a field of just four players - the winners
of the US Masters, US Open, British Open and the US PGA championships.
It
is the climax to the season - a 36-hole stroke play shoot out played
over two days and beamed live to 100 countries worldwide.
Woods has won it six times and is the all-time record holder for the most number of victories.
Details
of the event, without doubt the biggest 'sports tourism' initiative the
Government and its glamorous US consultant IMG has come up with, was
unveiled by Dr Ewart Brown at a press conference this afternoon.
He
said: "Picture it… Thirty six holes of season ending drama on one of
the world's most breathtaking courses - a golf green in Bermuda.
"The
event receives broad exposure to over 28,000 PGA professionals
throughout the USA and has consistently delivered the best players in
the world over the last 10 years, which is the reason we bid for it."
Brown added that the money invested by tourism was 'great bang for the buck'.
"When
you are able to showcase Bermuda's beaches and people on primetime TV,
if you had to pay for that exposure, you would have to pay a lot more
than that.
" We've been pursuing a premier golfing event for two years. When
we saw this opportunity, we went straight for it."
The
timing of the announcement, on the day Dr Brown's PLP leadership bid
was 'outed' by a fellow MP (see news), could not have been better for
the minister.
And though he refused to comment on the leadership
issue, the fact that a headline coup like this - marvellous PR for his
bid - came on the very day his ambitions were unveiled has not been
lost on political commentators.
Source: Bermuda Sun
www.bermudasun.bm