For the past eight seasons, the developmental tour of the PGA Tour - the Triple-A American golf tour to the PGA Tour's big leagues - has been called the Nationwide Tour. Because Nationwide Insurance is the tour's title sponsor.
The tour was originally called the Hogan Tour, and had two names after that before Nationwide came along. But it will have to get a fifth name now that Nationwide Insurance announced it won't renew its contract when its sponsorship deal expires after the 2012 season.
So in 2013, the Nationwide Tour will be called ... something else. That "something else" will almost certainly be the name of another title sponsor, so let's hope a company with a good name gets the deal. We don't want to see a Cialis Tour.
Names of the PGA Tour's Developmental Tour
- Ben Hogan Tour - 1990-93
- Nike Tour - 1993-99
- Buy.com Tour - 2000-2002
- Nationwide Tour - 2003-2012
Nationwide Insurance will continue to be involved in golf, however, as the "presenting sponsor" of Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament beginning in 2011.
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