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Woods Is the Driving Force
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Goodbye, Washington
A pall loomed over the TPC at Avenel course in Potomac during the Booz Allen Classic last June. Heavy rains and thunderstorms pelted the region, forcing competitors off the course on Sunday and again on Monday. The weather made the fairways more suited for mud wrestling. Groundskeepers hoisted shovels, pumps and vacuum hoses to remove puddles that formed in the contours of the greens and to drain bunkers flooded with hip-high water.
On Tuesday morning, June 27, the rain stopped just long enough for journeyman Ben Curtis to sink a bogey putt on the 18th green to win the tournament. Not a single paying fan was on hand to watch.
The PGA Tour's annual stop in the region had survived for 27 years despite often miserable weather and a course built by the Tour specifically for an annual tournament but generally disliked by professionals. Though large crowds turned out year after year, the tournament's inopportune date often was an excuse for many of the game's best players to stay away.
In 2003, Booz Allen Hamilton chief executive Ralph Shrader, an avid golfer whose house abuts the 14th fairway of Congressional's Gold Course, signed his company on as the event's sponsor for three years. He was intent on improving its reputation.
Finchem flew to Washington to visit Shrader at the consulting firm's headquarters in McLean. For nearly two hours, they shared their visions for revitalizing the tournament, Shrader recalled. A major renovation of TPC at Avenel, which the PGA Tour owns and operates, and a more appealing spot on the schedule were the centerpieces.
Finchem hinted about wanting a long-term sponsorship deal, Shrader said. Before agreeing to anything, Shrader insisted that the tournament be assured of the week before the U.S. Open, which would entice more name golfers to attend as a tuneup for a major championship. The two continued this dialogue over the next three years.
"I felt like we were on the same page," Shrader said. Speaking in a separate interview, Finchem agreed with Shrader's characterization of the relationship.
Shrader and Finchem met for the final time at the Presidents Cup at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville in September 2005. Renovations at Avenel had not progressed beyond sketches, and nothing had been decided about the tournament's dates. The two agreed to continue talks soon.
Less than two months later, Finchem announced the creation of the FedEx Cup, a season-long points competition. The dates of some tournaments needed to be shuffled.
On Jan. 13, 2006, Shrader said, he received a phone call just past 9 a.m. at his home.
"I just wanted you give you a heads-up," Finchem told Shrader. "We're moving the Washington event to the fall."
