PGA Tour names Korn Ferry umbrella sponsor of newly dubbed Korn Ferry Tour

25 June 2019 Consulting.us

The Web.com Tour – the developmental tour for the PGA Tour – has been renamed the Korn Ferry Tour, with the human capital consultancy becoming the umbrella sponsor.

The 10-year sponsorship took effect June 19, with previous tour sponsor Web.com cutting short its 10-year agreement which began in 2012.

The developmental tour for the US-based PGA Tour features professional golfers who either haven’t yet reached the PGA Tour, or have done so but failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at the PGA Tour level.

The tour began in 1990 as the Ben Hogan Tour, having been initally sponsored by the Ben Hogan Golf Company. Nike acquired the title sponsorship from 1993 to 1999, renaming it the Nike Tour. It was then the Buy.com Tour from 2000 to 2002, the Nationwide Tour from 2003 to 2012, and the then the Web.com Tour until this month.

Since 2013, the tour has been the primary path for golfers seeking a PGA Tour card. Fifty cards are awarded, with 25 for leading points earners during the regular season, and 25 for the top performers at the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals in August and September.
“We welcome Korn Ferry to the PGA Tour family with today’s announcement,” said Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner. “Our thanks to [Korn Ferry CEO] Gary Burnison and his team for a partnership that will promote Korn Ferry’s mission of helping people and organizations exceed their potential, collaborating with a Tour that has proven to identify the next generation of PGA Tour talent over the last 30 years.”

Sponsoring the developmental tour stays on brand for Korn Ferry, a consultancy that develops and coaches 1.2 million people a year, and places someone in a new job every three minutes. The global firm has 8,500 employees in more than 50 countries.

The sponsorship will also gain more exposure for the company in the upper-crust demographic that tunes in to PGA Tour events. The Tour audience is 27% of the US population, but accounts for 50% of US income and 67% of US wealth. These are the type of people that are more likely to be the target of executive recruitment, or who would perhaps consider giving their company an organizational overhaul.

“We’re excited to partner with the PGA Tour. Our organizations are both all about talent – getting players and people to that next level and advancing their careers. People will never discover their full potential until they are provided an abundance of opportunity. Korn Ferry and the Korn Ferry Tour provide that opportunity,” Gary Burnison, Korn Ferry CEO, said. “This sponsorship will further elevate our brand as a global organizational consultancy and extend awareness of our firm to new audiences around the world.”