Sponsor of PGA Tour signature event ending partnership with tour, according to reports

The title sponsor of one of the PGA Tour’s biggest events is ending its partnership with the tour.

Wells Fargo has been the financial backer of the tour’s North Carolina stop at Quail Hollow since 2011. Last season, the Wells Fargo Championship was named a signature event, a new designation given to a series of tournaments featuring limited fields and elevated purses. The tournament is keeping that status for the 2024 season, along with its new $20 million prize money payout.

However, according to the Charlotte Business Journal, the bank and financial services company will not renew its contract, which ends in 2024. Following the report, Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter wrote that Wells Fargo wanted to stay on as tournament sponsor, but was unwilling to pay the increase in the purse (the tournament paid out $9 million in 2022).

The news comes amid reports that tournaments and their sponsors are unhappy with the changes in the PGA Tour’s schedule and infrastructure, particularly with the tour’s ask that tournaments handle a greater portion of the purse responsibility. Not only are many tournaments’ financial backers stretched thin, but many are wondering what they are getting for their money, sources tell Golf Digest, especially if their events are not part of the signature series.

Wells Fargo’s decision also comes the day after one of golf’s best players, Jon Rahm, defected to LIV Golf, a move that could possibly accelerate—or complicate—the tour’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to end professional golf’s civil war.

The 2024 Wells Fargo Championship begins May 9. Wyndham Clark is the defending champion.