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The future of the event is no longer in doubt. The World Challenge is back on the schedule this year.
"There wasn't a doubt whether we could stage it. The question was whether we could get the necessary corporate support," said Greg McLaughlin, the president of the Tiger Woods Foundation who also runs his tournaments. "We're happy that we have a lot of support for the event that we've been able to generate the last few months."
The tournament is scheduled for December 5-8 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, where it has been since 2001. Graeme McDowell is the defending champion.
McLaughlin said he was not ready to announce the corporate support. Since it began, the World Challenge has raised more than $25 million for college-access programs through the Tiger Woods Learning Center in Anaheim, Calif., and the Earl Woods Scholarship program.
One of the questions about the World Challenge was how it would fit in when the PGA Tour goes to a wraparound season in October. There will be six tournaments that count toward the FedEx Cup in the fall, with the last official event in 2013 in Mexico on November 17. The World Challenge would follow a two-week break, and then the 2014 portion of the schedule begins three weeks later in Kapalua.
The World Challenge only offers world ranking points, not to mention a healthy holiday bonus. Even with a reduced purse without a title sponsor, McDowell made $1 million and last place in the 18-man field paid $120 000.
McLaughlin believes the appeal is the reduced field and low-key atmosphere. Along with the tournament host, the World Challenge typically attracts Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. And with the European Tour ending the same week as the PGA Tour, there's a chance of getting additional players before they take their long winter's nap.
"This is our 15th year, and it's very important to Tiger," McLaughlin said. "For our foundation, it's the first event we ever did. It would be hard to ever imagine not doing the event. I've had so many people - players, media - stop me throughout the year and say, 'Are you doing the event again?'"
The World Challenge is one of three tournaments this year that benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation. The others are the AT&T National, which has one more year on its contract, and the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston. The foundation has taken over operations of that event from IMG.
