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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, November 18, 2005

Grand Slam of Golf may move site

Advertiser Staff

Next week's PGA Grand Slam of Golf could be the final chapter of the event's 12-year run in Hawai'i, the PGA Tour said yesterday.

The event, which will be held Tuesday and Wednesday at Po'ipu Bay Golf Course, Kaua'i, and matches the winners of the Tour's four major championships, is negotiating with three other locations amid speculation it could wind up in Las Vegas for 2006.

Julius Mason, PGA director of public relations, said, "nothing has been decided" and no decision is expected "until the end of the year."

Mason said the Tour is "in discussions with Las Vegas, with the Caribbean and the southeastern United States" and remains in negotiations with the Po'ipu Bay Golf Course & Hyatt Regency Kaua'i Resort and Spa, where it has been since 1994.

"We've enjoyed a great 12-year run in Hawai'i," Mason said. "Last year we informed our partners that we would explore other site options for the PGA Grand Slam. There are a number of other resorts that have expressed interest in hosting the PGA Grand Slam of Golf but, at this stage, we're not ready to discuss 2006 specifically.

"Hawai'i would be a place that we would never, ever really X-off our list."

The event, which is in its 23rd year, has had eight homes, including Kaua'i Lagoons Resort in 1991, and moved to Po'ipu Bay after two years at La Quinta, Calif.

Tiger Woods has won five of the past seven Grand Slams. He did not participate in the other two.

Next week's event carries a $1 million purse ($400,000 for the winner) and includes Woods, Phil Mickelson, Michael Campbell and Vijay Singh. It is broadcast by TNT and has an audience in more than 100 countries.