World Match Play loses sponsors
Casey thumped Shaun Micheel to win last year’s event at Wentworth The company, which signed a 10-year deal to back the event in 2003, say this year’s tournament at Wentworth in October will be its last.HSBC has decided to switch its main focus to the Champions tournament in China after this year.”It’s been a very difficult decision,” said HSBC head of global sports marketing and sponsorship Giles Morgan.”We’ve had five great years, but have decided as a business it’s time to move on.”We are going to leave
on a high this year. We want to make it the best ever and go out with a bang.”It’s a brilliant event and I think we have helped to rebuild it.”The company created the biggest first prize in US and European tour history (£1m) when it took over the sponsorship of the event.HSBC also introduced a qualifying system based on performances in the majors.