Web.com Replaces Nationwide as Developmental Tour Sponsor

[mvmac]

Web.com, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based website design and hosting company, will replace Nationwide as the umbrella sponsor of the PGA Tour’s secondary circuit officials announced Wednesday at Congressional Country Club .

Quote:

The 10-year deal ends months of speculation and maneuvering by the Tour to replace Nationwide, which  had been the umbrella sponsor since 2003. Details of the agreement were not announced and the        changeover to the new sponsor will happen immediately.

Tour commissioner Tim Finchem called the new deal an “ideal match,” although Web.com, which went public in 2005, didn’t become part of the conversation until “three, four months” ago, the commissioner conceded.

In an attempt to make the circuit more attractive to a potential partner the Tour announced earlier this year a dramatic makeover of the PGA Tour qualifying system that makes the secondary circuit the primary avenue to membership.

Beginning next season the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in PGA Tour earnings will play a three-event series with the top 50 finishers earning Tour cards for the 2013-14 season.

Although both Finchem and Web.com CEO David Brown said the agreement was not contingent on the qualifying changes, the realignment certainly added to the new deal.

“Going forward the way the structure will be starting next year is more of integration with the PGA Tour, which is kind of what prior sponsors of this tour have always talked about. They'd like to see a closer relationship,” Finchem said. “(Web.com) saw that given the restructure.”

Web.com is the fifth umbrella sponsor of the secondary circuit, which began in 1990 as the Ben Hogan Tour. In 1993 Nike became the umbrella sponsor followed briefly by Buy.com in 2000 and Nationwide in ’03.

[Beachcomber]

I've never heard of Web.com until now.  I guess it's a great way to market your services?

[Motley01]

Wow, they really went "outside the box" to be creative, when deciding on the company name. Wonder what it says about their services.

[Zwick]

Is the new name Web Tour or Web.com Tour? Web.com Tour doesn't have any flow at all, not that it would matter.

[Beachcomber]

Originally Posted by Zwick

Is the new name Web Tour or Web.com Tour? Web.com Tour doesn't have any flow at all, not that it would matter.

Looks like Web.com Tour.  And we thought the .com days were over?

[brocks]

So I guess we can expect the prize money to double every month for about six months, and then it will go under.

[jamo]

Eh. I always hate when I have to write about when it was the Buy.com Tour (Nike Tour at least sounds cool). This just means now I'll have to say something like "And in 2005, Jason Gore won three times on the Nationwide (now Web.com) Tour, and got bumped up to the PGA Tour." Plus, not that I'm a NASCAR fan, but I liked how the AAA series there was sponsored by Nationwide as well.

[ApocG10]

Well, as long as the tour survives and thrives under web.com, that is all that is important. I agree, I would have called it the Web Tour, as it sounds a lot more, but the key is marketing their services, and Web.com Tour does that, and gets them a ton of exposure. I never heard of them before now, but now I know what they are and what they do.

Good for them, and I must say, I like the sound of the way they are giving out Tour Cards.

[Beachcomber]

Not sure if anyone had a chance to see any of the Web.com coverage from today... But Peter Tomasulo won on the 4th playoff hole between him and David Lingmerth.

I'm writing this though as there was a ruling which I found to be pretty interesting... As on the 4th and final playoff hole, there was a very suspicious drop made by Lingmerth.  The broadcast booth even felt the dude may have used the rules to his advantage (aka cheated)... He took a drop like 100+yds down the fairway after crossing a hazard.  When if he dropped it where many thought he should've, he would've been ~ 270yds out.  Instead he was 200 to front... 215 to pin.

It didn't matter as Peter Tomasulo was able to make par and Lingmerth made bogey (missed about a 15ft putt for par)... But the thing is - Lingmerth's drop was so favorable... If he dropped it where he probably should've - he would've never been putting for 4.

[newtogolf]

I've used web.com for the last 10 years to host one of my websites.  They used to be called Interland, but rebranded about 4 years ago to web.com.  Great hosting company for basic business websites that don't require a lot of storage or bandwidth.  They have grown exponentially since their Interland days and being associated with the PGA Tour will likely help them reach the next level.  Also should give the PGA Tour an improved web presence and hopefully more online coverage.

[nicoy3k]

Seems like a step down from Nationwide. Not a good sign imo.

[newtogolf]

It's not as well known a name, but overall I think web.com can advance the tour coverage more than Nationwide.

Originally Posted by nicoy3k

Seems like a step down from Nationwide. Not a good sign imo.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

I've used web.com for the last 10 years to host one of my websites.  They used to be called Interland, but rebranded about 4 years ago to web.com.  Great hosting company for basic business websites that don't require a lot of storage or bandwidth.  They have grown exponentially since their Interland days and being associated with the PGA Tour will likely help them reach the next level.  Also should give the PGA Tour an improved web presence and hopefully more online coverage.

Aha!

I registered the domain name "splinterland.com" because I was so unhappy with Interland at one point (before I moved to MediaTemple, which has been good to great). That's who they are. Thanks.

I didn't see the drop.

[newtogolf]

Interland used to load their servers pretty heavy so that's why I stated they were good for small business with minimal bandwidth and server needs.  They are more like a 1and1 today only with better servers, more mailbox storage, and improved service, they do not offer something to host a site like TST.

A site like this would bring most shared servers to their knees so I'm guessing you switched to a minimal load VPS or dedicated server.

Originally Posted by iacas

Aha!

I registered the domain name "splinterland.com" because I was so unhappy with Interland at one point (before I moved to MediaTemple, which has been good to great). That's who they are. Thanks.

I didn't see the drop.

[Zeph]

That is one god awful name for a golf tour, but whoever brings the money decide. It's better than not having a sponsor.

[TourSpoon]

I still call it the Hogan Tour.

[mnshooter]

The tour should have a name and a sponsor.  That way you can refer back to the tour name instead of the sponsor.  So it should be The Web.com Qualifying PGA tour or something along those lines.  Just like the PGA Tour in the US is not the Fedex Tour.  You shouldn't change the name of the tour just because of a new sponsor.

[jamo]

Just thought of something. AAA should sponsor the Tour. That way it would be the AAA Tour and the AAA tour!