Todd Fleming believes the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches has all the ingredients to become a premier stop on the PGA Tour.
Why else would the 45-year-old leave a job as vice president for global sales at Legends, a company that specializes in solutions for sports organizations and venues?
Fleming, who spent two years as the manager of ticket sales for the Miami Heat in the 2000s, is Cognizant’s new executive director. He will take over running the event after this year’s tournament concludes.
Cognizant will be held Feb. 29-March 3 at PGA National.
“I know we will build a championship this community can take immense pride in, as well as our players,” said Fleming, who worked 14 years at Legends. “This has tremendous potential to be a marquee event on the Tour each and every year.”
Cognizant replaced Honda as the title sponsor of the event that has been held in Palm Beach Gardens the last two decades and at PGA National since 2007. Joie Chitwood, hired by the PGA Tour in May to run the 2026 Presidents Cup, was asked to step in this year on an interim basis to help the event through the transition.
The Tour’s Championship Management division will take over operations of the event.
“The PGA Tour doesn’t do the acquisitions in taking over rights and control of an event if they don’t believe in the marketplace and believe there is a real opportunity for growth,” Fleming said.
Matt Rapp, senior vice-president of the PGA Tour’s Championship Management Division, spoke about the Tour’s desire to continue the event’s growth outside the ropes started by former executive directors Ken Kennerly and Andrew George. They also want a return to the world-class fields regularly seen until about five years ago.
Todd Fleming has been named executive director of the Cognizant Classic.
With Rory McIlory and Rickie Fowler heading the early entries – and the Tour adjusting the schedule in Cognizant’s favor – this year’s tournament is off to a good start.
“The work that’s been done with this event to this point has been incredible,” Fleming said. “You got to build on that.”
While attendance, charitable contributions and the build-out continue to grow, Fleming said the goal also is to stage an event golfers are “juiced up” to play.
“When you’re on the golf course, you’re talking to guys next to you,” Fleming said about the pros. “If we get the right mixture of atmosphere, amenities, the right product and spectator…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…