The Tampa Event May Be Saved

It appears that Transitions - you know, those glasses that change color depending on the light - may be the next company to have its name on the Innisbrook event.

Although negotiations about final details continue and a formal announcement has not been scheduled, multiple sources at PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach confirmed the deal is imminent.

Transitions Optical's involvement also is being discussed by PGA Tour members.

Clearwater tour player Greg Kraft, the recent winner of the Puerto Rico Open, an event that has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Tampa Bay's date, recently heard the news from one of the tour's four Player Advisory Board members.

"We were having lunch, and conversation came up about Puerto Rico," Kraft said. "I asked if they were going to get the Tampa date. And he told me Tampa just got a sponsor, Transitions. That's what we're hearing on tour."

Transitions Optical president Brett Craig and other company officials were seen often around the Innisbrook property during the week of the final PODS Championship. Typically, interested sponsors use the on-site experience to judge advertising value that could be harvested by attaching the company name. The group also met that week with Innisbrook's top official, Salamander Hospitality owner Sheila Johnson, whose company operates and is revitalizing the resort.

The Innisbrook event has had some serious sponsor problems in its short life - since 2000. It was sponsored by Chrysler, then PODS, and now Transitions. I have to say, that's not improving.