Was Pernice talking out of school?

Tom Pernice on Monday backed away from what he told Golfweek last week, that this would be the last Buick Open, despite one more year remaining on Buick's contract with the PGA Tour.

In an interview with WJRT, Pernice said he was citing only rumors, that he has no direct knowledge of what the future holds for this tournament that began in 1958. The interview can be seen here:

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Pernice is a member of the PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council and as such is plugged into PGA Tour politics. The guess here is that he merely may have slipped and revealed the Buick's fate before the tour was prepared to announce it, some time after the Buick Open is played.

The surprise would be were Buick not to have to end its sponsorship of the Buick Open and the Buick Invitational, the latter played early in the year at Torrey Pines. General Motors, Buick's parent, filed for bankruptcy protection on June 1.

-- John Strege