But the World Golf Hall of Famer vowed to use his clout to try to rectify the situation.<\/p>\n
The Kaulig Companies Championship<\/a>, which concludes Sunday, July 12, will end the PGA Tour\u2019s run of 72 years at Firestone Country Club<\/a>. The senior major tournament is moving to Newport Beach, California, in 2027.<\/p>\n \u201cI was around when they lost Castle Pines, The International. I had a really close relationship with the ownership, the members, the residents, and that was a hard one to take,\u201d Els said of the event held from 1986 to 2006 in Castle Rock, Colorado. \u201cThis one\u2019s even harder because this is a longer period of time that\u2019s just going to be washed away.<\/p>\n \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that we\u2019re never going to come back here. It was one of my first professional events in 1992. Thirty-four years ago. The guys in the locker room, the workmen on the course, you don\u2019t get a better crew than this crew. I just hope the community \u2026 hopefully something happens. I\u2019ll pull as hard as I can behind the scenes and try to get something back here.\u201d<\/p>\n Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a> Els will be battling economics after Kaulig Companies, heavily invested in Kaulig Racing on the NASCAR circuit, reportedly elected not to extend its sponsorship of the event. But that is not the only issue.<\/p>\n Since 2019, attendance has been sparse for the Champions tournament at the South Course. Crowds were five to 10 deep around Tiger Woods<\/a> when he won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational eight times. The prestigious PGA Tour event bolted for Memphis, Tennessee, after 2018. Newport Beach Country Club has a large fan base for its Hoag Classic, which will become the Hoag Senior Players Championship next year.<\/p>\n This week, players expressed their sadness over leaving Firestone. But many felt powerless to change the situation, saying their voices aren\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n PGA decision another loss for Akron: I thought golf was here for good. Then the PGA dumped Akron | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cNah, because we need a sponsor,\u201d Rocco Mediate<\/a>, 63, said. Then he joked, \u201cIf we get all the members to throw in $500,000 each, we\u2019d have a really big purse.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re sad, but we\u2019re not mad. Firestone has been so good to all of us. I\u2019ve been coming here since \u201991, my first World Series. It\u2019s something you really wish would never go away, but sometimes things change. You never know, something might come back someday.\u201d<\/p>\n Ryan Armour<\/a>, 50, a Silver Lake native who attended Walsh Jesuit High School and Ohio State, suggested Firestone host a second-tier event PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is implementing in 2028. The tier system will have 15 tournaments in a \u201cChampionship Series\u201d and 20 lesser events in a \u201cChallenger Series.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAkron has to save it. The community itself. The people have to support the event,\u201d Armour said. \u201cI think you can raise the money, whether to have a Champions Tour event here or to have a Tier 2 PGA Tour event. When you look back at the history of this place, people need to be here.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you could get that Tier 2 PGA Tour event \u2026 you have 144 players, 144 caddies, trainers, dieticians, spouses, girlfriends spending money in Northeast Ohio. I think that\u2019s a no-brainer. That\u2019s a huge economic impact for a week. If Akron could show up and guarantee some crowds, I think you could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Armour said a \u201cChallenger Series\u201d tournament would be worth watching.<\/p>\n \u201cThese young guys are going to be superstars,\u201d Armour said. \u201cYou just have to remember, they\u2019re not Tiger. Tiger sells 40,000 tickets when he just signs up for a tournament. We got spoiled in Akron. He was here all the time, winning all the time. You have to remember that\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime player. Once in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n Kenny Perry<\/a>, 66, who first played Firestone in the NEC World Series of Golf in 1991, isn\u2019t opposed to the Tier 2 idea.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to play somewhere. I don\u2019t see why they shouldn\u2019t come here,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThe golf course looks like it was meant to be here. The way it\u2019s laid out, the old trees \u2026 it\u2019s picturesque. It\u2019s beautiful.<\/p>\n \u201cThis golf course stood the test of time. It\u2019s so hard. It\u2019s so hard today. I don\u2019t understand why we\u2019re leaving. I guess the dollars talk.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Goydos, 62, made his Firestone debut in the 1996 NEC World Series of Golf. Even though he\u2019s never replicated his opening-round 66 that year, he said the course deserves something better than a Tier 2 event.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to fish all that out. But my opinion is this is a first-level golf course and it would be a first-level event,\u201d Goydos said. \u201cThis is a place where Tiger Woods has made memories, not Paul Goydos. I don\u2019t think the future of Firestone is going to be a second-tier event. It\u2019s going to be first-tier events because it\u2019s always been a first-tier event. Even on our tour, it\u2019s the Players Championship.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a place where just average happens. This is a place where better than that happens, and I think everybody in golf knows that. It\u2019s just a matter of getting it done.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Goydos: Firestone should be permanent backup site for U.S. Open Goydos suggested Firestone should serve as the permanent backup for the U.S. Open in event of a catastrophic event at the host site, but that might not guarantee the competition would ever be in Akron.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the powers in golf, they could go to the USGA tomorrow and say, \u2018We\u2019ll be your backup U.S. Open for the rest of our lives,’ and you could do it. That speaks volumes to the challenge of this golf course,\u201d Goydos said.<\/p>\n \u201cI would imagine more people have cussed at Firestone than just about any other course on Tour. The way you want to tell if a golf course is any good, you look to see who won here. [Jack] Nicklaus won here a bunch, Tiger won here a bunch. Very rarely do you have a funny winner; it\u2019s a name, it\u2019s not me.\u201d<\/p>\n Could a major draw Tiger Woods back to Firestone Country Club? Now 50, Woods vowed in 2018 he would return to Akron for a senior tour event, but he has undergone 14 known surgeries, seven on his back, and his future in golf is uncertain. Two-time Kaulig winner Jerry Kelly<\/a> suggested a major championship for Firestone, in part because Woods might be interested.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why I think there could be a major here because that would be a draw for a USGA or a PGA, if they decided to go to Firestone, to get Tiger because you know he\u2019d come here,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n As for the finances involved in the tour returning to Akron, Kelly said, \u201cIt\u2019s the corporations in town. We can\u2019t say we love it enough, but if they can\u2019t sell things out. We didn\u2019t even have standard bearers [Thursday and Friday]; they can\u2019t get enough volunteers. If they can\u2019t get enough volunteers, they\u2019re not going to get enough corporate sponsors and sell out the tents. This thing should have a huge build-out, and sold out like it used to be, but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand the dynamics of the area and the tough times that everybody\u2019s been through here. Discretionary spending is difficult for corporations to justify. Even $3 to $5 [million] out here on the companies we\u2019re calling on, I understand how tough of an ask it is. If you guys drum it up, we\u2019ll be back. But that\u2019s what has to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/90879820007-kaulig-companies-pga-championship-round-266.jpg\")
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