Which events does PGA Tour Championship Management operate?

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.

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