Fields Out as LPGA Sponsor

We all knew this was coming, but Golfweek confirms it.

The Fields Corporation, title sponsor of the Fields Open in Hawaii, has announced it will not renew its title sponsorship for the LPGA tournament for 2009, leaving an early-season hole on the tour’s schedule for next year.

Fields officials said the Japanese entertainment company will concentrate its future marketing efforts primarily in Japan. There had been speculation the event was in trouble and might not return, one of several LPGA tournaments that is having title sponsor issues.

That's not really news, but this sounds interesting:

“I think our No. 1 objective is to get more U.S. tournaments (with) full fields,” Inkster said.

That seems to fly in the face of international expansion of the LPGA Tour. I'd be very curious to know the explicit objective of Commissioner Bivens. I don't know it one way or the other, but I'm not certain that Inkster and the Commish would see eye-to-eye on that.