Tag: Jim Crane

Houston Open officially returns to PGA Tour’s spring schedule, signs new sponsor in Texas Children’s

Just months after the Austin event was axed, a fellow Texas tournament has slid back into the spring schedule.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=]

Just a handful of months after putting the final pile of dirt on the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, a fellow Texas tournament has slid back into the Austin event’s slot in the PGA Tour’s spring schedule.

Tour officials announced on Wednesday that the Houston Open will be held March 28-31, marking the first time since 2018 the event will be in the spring rotation. The Valero Texas Open in San Antonio is expected to maintain its position as the following week’s event, leading into the Masters.

According to an announcement from the Tour and Astros Golf Foundation, the tournament has also secured a long-term agreement with Texas Children’s, the largest pediatric and women’s health system in the nation. The agreement is for five years.

“We are excited to announce our partnership with Texas Children’s as the title sponsor for the Houston Open,” said Jim Crane, Houston Astros Owner and Chairman. “We couldn’t have asked for a better partner as we continue our mission of giving back to the greater Houston community. Aligning their values with the efforts of our Astros Golf Foundation provides a special opportunity for both organizations to continue to give back to our community, to grow the game of golf, and to provide a platform to help those most in need.”

The event moved from the private Golf Club of Houston to the municipal Memorial Park in 2020 after significant investment from Crane, who funneled enough cash into the muni track to get esteemed designer Tom Doak on board, with Brooks Koepka as a player advisor.

Memorial Park had always been the crown jewel of the Houston public golf scene. Originally built as a nine-hole course in 1912, an extensive redesign by John Bredemus (who had co-founded the Texas Professional Golfers Association in 1922) led to its “official” 18-hole opening in 1936.

2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open
Tony Finau celebrates after winning the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open. (Photo: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports)

From 1947 to 1963, the course hosted a PGA Tour event 14 times. Arnold Palmer won it once and Jack Nicklaus had a second-place finish. Famously, 1965 PGA Championship winner Dave Marr asked that his ashes be spread at Memorial Park — even though he never won there, he credited the track for shaping his career.

“On behalf of the PGA Tour, we are thankful to Texas Children’s for their commitment to one of the Tour’s legacy events in the Houston Open, a tournament that dates back to 1946,” said PGA Tour President Tyler Dennis. “The Houston Open has played a significant role in shaping the PGA Tour’s history through its competitive lineage with golf’s greats playing and winning the event as well as an unwavering commitment to bettering the community. This partnership between the Astros Golf Foundation and Texas Children’s has the opportunity to take the tournament to new heights, most notably in its ability to impact the lives of families in Houston and throughout Texas.”

Golfweek previously reported that Crane was leveraging the emergence of LIV Golf as a potential suitor for a Houston event if he couldn’t get the spring PGA Tour date he desired.

Crane is an investor in Escalante Golf, which staged two LIV Golf events in the upstart circuit’s inaugural year – Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon and The International in Massachusetts – and then a third LIV event this season at The Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona.

Crane, along with Giles Kibbe, senior vice president and general counsel for the Astros and president of the Astros Golf Foundation, played in the pro-am at LIV’s Boston event.

Houston is one of the largest markets in the U.S., and the Tour certainly didn’t want to lose it. Despite the Houston Open being successful going up against football and on the heels of a steady stream of baseball playoff games in recent years, Crane reportedly was no longer willing to support a golf tournament in the fall.

Tony Finau captured the Houston last November, and the event will not be staged in 2023 as it prepares for its return to the spring. The tournament will be televised on NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock, and PGA Tour Live on ESPN+.

Mattress Mack (of all people) opposes the Texas sports betting legalization bill supported by Jerry Jones

Texas has an unlikely opponent in the form of the state’s most notorious bettor.

The push to legalize mobile sports betting in Texas took another step Monday with the debut of new legislation carried by republican state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst.

Kolkhorst’s relationship with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is expected to give it a chance at succeeding after a previous sports betting bill failed to gain traction in 2021 despite the support of some Texas heavy hitters, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.

The two team owners again voiced their support to legalize mobile betting in a statement Monday from the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, each boasting the safety of a regulated market.

However, not everyone is back on board.

An unlikely new opponent of legalizing sports betting in Texas is perhaps the state’s most notorious sports bettor, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.

In 2021, McIngvale went so far as to write an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle about why it was time to legalize betting in Texas. But he’s since had a change of heart, telling the Chronicle the travel required for him to place bets puts a limit on his impulses to do so. He also said he’s concerned the revenue estimates are overblown.

“My change of heart is that I know myself and I’ve seen the light as far as
impulsiveness on me to sports gambling,” said McIngvale, who won the largest payout in U.S. sports betting history last year when the Astros won the World Series. “Because I’ve got to drive to Louisiana, it limits those impulses by a factor of 1,000. So I’m not in favor of sports gambling in Texas.”

Who saw that coming?

[mm-video type=video id=01grpgbvmseqpjqsfm1x playlist_id=none player_id=01gp1x90emjt3n6txc image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01grpgbvmseqpjqsfm1x/01grpgbvmseqpjqsfm1x-1d663234183978ffe98bcd7368d7d5a1.jpg]

Sources: Houston Open making power play for spring date on 2024 PGA Tour schedule

Golfweek has learned from multiple sources that the Houston stop is eyeing a return to the main schedule.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – The 2023 portion of the 2022-23 season is just kicking off and already the talk has shifted to 2024 and beyond.

Changes are coming and one tournament angling for a different future is the Cadence Bank Houston Open.

Earlier this week, Golf Channel reported that the Houston stop, which dates to 1946 and has been played in October since 2019, wasn’t listed as one of the fall events in 2023. Golfweek has learned from multiple sources that the Houston stop is eyeing a return to the main schedule. While it is too soon to know for sure, Houston could take over the date currently occupied by the Mexico Open which in 2023 is set for late April.

But according to Golfweek sources, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, Houston wasn’t listed on the preliminary fall schedule that has been shown to players because tournament organizers don’t want to hold two events within a span of what could be five months, should it join the main schedule.

When asked Sunday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions specifically about Houston’s place on the fall schedule in 2023, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said, “The reality is there are a lot of moving parts to the fall schedule and we haven’t finalized the schedule yet.”

Monahan noted that the fall schedule should be announced by the Players Championship in March.

In the meantime, there is plenty of back-room negotiations going on. Jim Crane, who is the owner of the MLB champion Houston Astros, also is believed to be leveraging the emergence of LIV Golf as a potential suitor for a Houston event if Crane doesn’t get the spring PGA Tour date he desires.

Crane is an investor in Escalante Golf, which staged two LIV Golf events in the upstart circuit’s inaugural year – Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon and The International in Massachusetts – and is expected to host a third LIV event this season at The Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona. An Escalante Golf representative said the company doesn’t disclose information on its investors.

“He’s not a conscientious observer,” one source said of Crane’s feelings about the Saudi Arabian PIF Fund being the chief underwriter of the upstart league.

Crane, along with Giles Kibbe, senior vice president and general counsel for the Astros and president of the Astros Golf Foundation, played in the pro-am at LIV’s Boston event, the city where Monahan cut his teeth as tournament director of the now-defunct Deutsche Bank Championship.

“When he goes out to play in a pro-am in Boston, he’s sending a message. He doesn’t even play Pebble anymore,” a source said of Crane.

Houston is one of the largest markets in the U.S., and the Tour certainly doesn’t want to lose it. Despite the Houston Open being successful going up against football and on the heels of a steady stream of baseball playoff games in recent years, Crane reportedly is no longer willing to support a golf tournament in the fall.

The Mexico event joined as a limited field World Golf Championship in 2017 and was downgraded to a regular PGA Tour tournament this year as a full-field event. That required a move of the course from Mexico City’s Chapultepec to Puerto Vallarta and Vidanta Vallarta. With Mexico’s best players joining LIV, there has been speculation that the Mexico tournament could pull the plug after this year.

Playing in a LIV pro-am isn’t the only power-play move Crane has made to get the date he wants or potentially take his ball and go home. He also owns the Floridian Golf Club in Palm City, Florida, and Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, who both jumped ship to LIV last year, are among its members. According to a source, Johnson approached Crane about having a LIV tournament at The Floridian with Johnson’s name on it but Crane turned it down.

“If he didn’t get the date he wanted (from the PGA Tour), he might not have said no,” a source said.

Efforts to reach Cadence Bank tournament director Colby Callaway weren’t successful.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01evcfxp4q8949fs1e image=]

Rockets welcome Astros, World Series MVP Jeremy Pena to Toyota Center

Monday’s loudest cheers at Toyota Center went to World Series MVP Jeremy Pena, who was among several champion Astros showing their support for the Rockets.

HOUSTON — The Rockets didn’t get the win in Monday’s home loss to the Clippers at Toyota Center, but they did get a reminder of the potential benefits of a successful franchise rebuilding plan.

The Houston Astros, who recently won Major League Baseball’s World Series for a second time (2017, 2022), had owner Jim Crane, shortstop Jeremy Pena and reserve infielder David Hensley in attendance at Monday’s Rockets game.

Pena, the Most Valuable Player of the 2022 World Series, was an enormous hit when shown on the big screen and when he tossed autographs into the crowd.

Pena, who wore a throwback Rockets jacket with an older logo, didn’t get to see the win from the local NBA team that he had hoped for. But as he acknowledged in his TV interview, Pena, his teammates and sports fans across Houston have enough to celebrate, as it is.

Here’s a look at how it sounded and looked Monday.

PGA Tour: Houston Open entering critical phase in year two at Memorial Park

Will the event remain at Memorial Park? And will the Tour stay in Houston?

Many of the names are recognizable, but with play underway, the field for the Houston Open is lacking something important — a top-10 player.

The highest-ranked player in this week’s PGA Tour event at Memorial Park is Tony Finau, who currently stands at No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Why does it matter? Just last year, the event moved from the private Golf Club of Houston to the municipal Memorial Park after significant investment from Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and his Astros Golf Foundation. Crane’s group funneled enough cash into the muni track to get esteemed designer Tom Doak on board, with Brooks Koepka as a player advisor.

Memorial Park had always been the crown jewel of the Houston public golf scene. Originally built as a nine-hole course in 1912, an extensive redesign by John Bredemus (who had co-founded the Texas Professional Golfers Association in 1922) led to its “official” 18-hole opening in 1936.

From 1947 to 1963, the course hosted a PGA Tour event 14 times. Arnold Palmer won it once and Jack Nicklaus had a second-place finish. Famously, 1965 PGA Championship winner Dave Marr asked that his ashes be spread at Memorial Park — even though he never won there, he credited the track for shaping his career.

And while it maintained its status as one of the state’s top municipal courses for decades after the Tour left in 1964, the big names hit the bricks, heading to the suburbs as part of a disturbing trend. It appeared Memorial Park’s day as a top-flight nationally recognized course had come and gone.

After Crane led a $34 million renovation of the property, it returned to golf’s highest stage, and many expected that because of his connections, Crane would be able to consistently pull a stellar field. For example, then-No. 1 Dustin Johnson — a friend and neighbor of Crane in Florida — played in the 2020 event, citing his relationship with the Astros’ owner as the key.

But this year, Johnson didn’t commit, nor did any others from the top tier. And one player who most assumed would be a yearly staple — No. 11 Jordan Spieth — is expecting his first child in a few weeks and won’t be in the field. While his eagerness to become a parent certainly could be a swaying factor in his decision, Spieth’s poor showing in last year’s event — he missed the cut after rounds of 73 and 71 — couldn’t have helped matters.

[vertical-gallery id=778073659]

Like it does with many events, the PGA Tour agreed to a five-year deal with Memorial Park, meaning the event has a little time to show its value if it hopes to stay part of the long-term schedule. Before Crane’s involvement, there had been rumblings that the Tour might leave Houston.

The hope is that strong corporate involvement and good ticket sales will force the Tour to reposition Houston somewhere in a Texas swing, which typically runs through late spring. Right now, as a one-off, travel to and from the event is inconvenient for players and their support systems, with this week’s event outside Cancun and the following event in Sea Island, Georgia.

Last year’s field was stronger because it led up to the only fall Masters in history. And it’s not like the field is devoid of star power — a number of top-30 players are taking part, including Finau, Koepka, Sam Burns, local resident Patrick Reed and former University of Texas star Scottie Scheffler.

There’s “good news” on the corporate front, too, as Hewlett Packard Enterprise was brought aboard as a corporate sponsor last week, although the timing of the move is peculiar with just a handful of days until the event was set to tee off.

“We are excited to have Hewlett Packard Enterprise on board as the title sponsor for the 2021 Houston Open,” said Giles Kibbe, the president of the Astros Golf Foundation. “Based in Houston, Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares the same mission as the Astros Golf Foundation, and we are proud to have them join us in representing world-class PGA Tour golf, while giving back to our local Houston community.”

Crane’s foundation is loaded with reserves, so the tournament can take time to build some cache, but it’s unclear if players like the course.

Will the event remain at Memorial Park? Will the Houston Open eventually get shuffled into a Texas swing, giving it the best chance for success? And will the Tour stay in Houston?

These questions are as difficult to answer as picking a winner from the 132-player field.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban says ‘baseball is a mess right now,’ thankful he didn’t buy team

As MLB commissioner Rob Manfred draws more and more criticism for how he’s handled the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he’s glad he’s not tied to major league baseball.

As MLB commissioner Rob Manfred draws more and more criticism for how he’s handled the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he’s glad he’s not tied to major league baseball.

Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban says ‘baseball is a mess right now,’ thankful he didn’t buy team (Hoopsh

As MLB commissioner Rob Manfred draws more and more criticism for how he’s handled the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he’s glad he’s not tied to major league baseball.

As MLB commissioner Rob Manfred draws more and more criticism for how he’s handled the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he’s glad he’s not tied to major league baseball.

Astros’ Altuve, Bregman, owner Jim Crane apologize for 2017 sign-stealing

The sports world has been waiting since November to hear apologies from the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the baseball offseason.

The sports world has been waiting since November to hear apologies from the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the baseball offseason.

Baseball fans slam Astros owner for astonishingly lame apology for cheating scandal

The Astros are so bad at this.

The Houston Astros hid from the media on Wedensday in Spring Training, blocking the clubhouse to all reporters and going as far as to use security to make sure that no player could be asked about the team’s disgraceful cheating scandal. On Thursday, the team finally addressed the issue that will haunt them for years to come – and team owner Jim Crane offered the lamest non-apology you could imagine.

Crane told reporters that he was “sorry” his team was that this happened, and promised that his organization wouldn’t be caught cheating again on his watch – but also claimed that the Astros’ elaborate cheating scheme had zero impact on the outcome of ballgames.

“You know our opinion is, you know, that this didn’t impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series, and we’ll leave it at that.”

Strangely, when asked to clarify his comment, Crane later claimed that he didn’t say the scheme didn’t impact the game.

When pressed by ESPN reporter Marly Rivera, Crane admitted that sign stealing “could possibly” give his team an advantage, but also “could possibly not.”

Crane also argued that he feels he deserves none of the blame for the Astros’ scandal.

Baseball fans couldn’t believe Crane’s statements.

[jwplayer 9Q0KC86i-q2aasYxh]