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Golf legends mourn as PGA Tour leaves Firestone
Golf legends mourn as PGA Tour leaves Firestone
Marla Ridenour, Special to the Beacon JournalSat, Jul 11, 2026·8 min readErnie Els called the PGA Tour Champions’ decision to abandon Akron “crushing.”
But the World Golf Hall of Famer vowed to use his clout to try to rectify the situation.
The Kaulig Companies Championship, which concludes Sunday, July 12, will end the PGA Tour’s run of 72 years at Firestone Country Club. The senior major tournament is moving to Newport Beach, California, in 2027.
“I was around when they lost Castle Pines, The International. I had a really close relationship with the ownership, the members, the residents, and that was a hard one to take,” Els said of the event held from 1986 to 2006 in Castle Rock, Colorado. “This one’s even harder because this is a longer period of time that’s just going to be washed away.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I still can’t believe that we’re never going to come back here. It was one of my first professional events in 1992. Thirty-four years ago. The guys in the locker room, the workmen on the course, you don’t get a better crew than this crew. I just hope the community … hopefully something happens. I’ll pull as hard as I can behind the scenes and try to get something back here.”
Els will be battling economics after Kaulig Companies, heavily invested in Kaulig Racing on the NASCAR circuit, reportedly elected not to extend its sponsorship of the event. But that is not the only issue.
Since 2019, attendance has been sparse for the Champions tournament at the South Course. Crowds were five to 10 deep around Tiger Woods when he won the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational eight times. The prestigious PGA Tour event bolted for Memphis, Tennessee, after 2018. Newport Beach Country Club has a large fan base for its Hoag Classic, which will become the Hoag Senior Players Championship next year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis week, players expressed their sadness over leaving Firestone. But many felt powerless to change the situation, saying their voices aren’t enough.
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“Nah, because we need a sponsor,” Rocco Mediate, 63, said. Then he joked, “If we get all the members to throw in $500,000 each, we’d have a really big purse.
“We’re sad, but we’re not mad. Firestone has been so good to all of us. I’ve been coming here since ’91, my first World Series. It’s something you really wish would never go away, but sometimes things change. You never know, something might come back someday.”
Could a Tier 2 PGA Tour event be in Akron's future?
Ryan Armour, 50, a Silver Lake native who attended Walsh Jesuit High School and Ohio State, suggested Firestone host a second-tier event PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is implementing in 2028. The tier system will have 15 tournaments in a “Championship Series” and 20 lesser events in a “Challenger Series.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Akron has to save it. The community itself. The people have to support the event,” Armour said. “I think you can raise the money, whether to have a Champions Tour event here or to have a Tier 2 PGA Tour event. When you look back at the history of this place, people need to be here.
“If you could get that Tier 2 PGA Tour event … you have 144 players, 144 caddies, trainers, dieticians, spouses, girlfriends spending money in Northeast Ohio. I think that’s a no-brainer. That’s a huge economic impact for a week. If Akron could show up and guarantee some crowds, I think you could do it.”
Armour said a “Challenger Series” tournament would be worth watching.
“These young guys are going to be superstars,” Armour said. “You just have to remember, they’re not Tiger. Tiger sells 40,000 tickets when he just signs up for a tournament. We got spoiled in Akron. He was here all the time, winning all the time. You have to remember that’s a once-in-a-lifetime player. Once in my lifetime.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKenny Perry, 66, who first played Firestone in the NEC World Series of Golf in 1991, isn’t opposed to the Tier 2 idea.
“They’re going to have to play somewhere. I don’t see why they shouldn’t come here,” Perry said. “The golf course looks like it was meant to be here. The way it’s laid out, the old trees … it’s picturesque. It’s beautiful.
“This golf course stood the test of time. It’s so hard. It’s so hard today. I don’t understand why we’re leaving. I guess the dollars talk.”
Paul Goydos, 62, made his Firestone debut in the 1996 NEC World Series of Golf. Even though he’s never replicated his opening-round 66 that year, he said the course deserves something better than a Tier 2 event.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“They’re going to have to fish all that out. But my opinion is this is a first-level golf course and it would be a first-level event,” Goydos said. “This is a place where Tiger Woods has made memories, not Paul Goydos. I don’t think the future of Firestone is going to be a second-tier event. It’s going to be first-tier events because it’s always been a first-tier event. Even on our tour, it’s the Players Championship.
“This is not a place where just average happens. This is a place where better than that happens, and I think everybody in golf knows that. It’s just a matter of getting it done.”
Paul Goydos: Firestone should be permanent backup site for U.S. Open
Goydos suggested Firestone should serve as the permanent backup for the U.S. Open in event of a catastrophic event at the host site, but that might not guarantee the competition would ever be in Akron.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I think the powers in golf, they could go to the USGA tomorrow and say, ‘We’ll be your backup U.S. Open for the rest of our lives,' and you could do it. That speaks volumes to the challenge of this golf course,” Goydos said.
“I would imagine more people have cussed at Firestone than just about any other course on Tour. The way you want to tell if a golf course is any good, you look to see who won here. [Jack] Nicklaus won here a bunch, Tiger won here a bunch. Very rarely do you have a funny winner; it’s a name, it’s not me.”
Could a major draw Tiger Woods back to Firestone Country Club?
Now 50, Woods vowed in 2018 he would return to Akron for a senior tour event, but he has undergone 14 known surgeries, seven on his back, and his future in golf is uncertain. Two-time Kaulig winner Jerry Kelly suggested a major championship for Firestone, in part because Woods might be interested.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“That’s why I think there could be a major here because that would be a draw for a USGA or a PGA, if they decided to go to Firestone, to get Tiger because you know he’d come here,” Kelly said.
As for the finances involved in the tour returning to Akron, Kelly said, “It’s the corporations in town. We can’t say we love it enough, but if they can’t sell things out. We didn’t even have standard bearers [Thursday and Friday]; they can’t get enough volunteers. If they can’t get enough volunteers, they’re not going to get enough corporate sponsors and sell out the tents. This thing should have a huge build-out, and sold out like it used to be, but it’s not.
“We understand the dynamics of the area and the tough times that everybody’s been through here. Discretionary spending is difficult for corporations to justify. Even $3 to $5 [million] out here on the companies we’re calling on, I understand how tough of an ask it is. If you guys drum it up, we’ll be back. But that’s what has to happen.”
Stewart Cink, who won the 2004 WGC-NEC Invitational as Woods and Rory Sabbatini tied for second, is among the skeptics about Firestone’s tournament future.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I don’t think it’s up in the air. I think it’s going to Newport Beach,” Cink said. Asked about the search for a new sponsor, he added, “It’s a big business. I hope it works out, but as of now it looks like it will be the last one. It will be sad.”
Goydos remains optimistic.
“What we miss in the game is what’s really important — we tend to get caught up in Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus and Scottie Scheffler — when really the events endure,” Goydos said. “The greatest moments of Firestone’s history are Tiger Woods doing something and Jack Nicklaus doing something. I think those types of iconic moments, those types of events, that history, this place will always be in somebody’s mind about, ‘How can we get back to playing there?’
“If you told me over the next X number of years somebody came back here and played, I would not be surprised.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Akron Beacon Journal sports department can be contacted via email at bjsports@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Golf legends mourn as PGA Tour leaves Firestone