Waste Management assumes title sponsorship from FBR of PGA Tour's Phoenix Open

The second tour stop announcement this week regarding the PGA Tour 2010 schedule has been announced.

Following the debut of a brand new 7-year-deal with Malaysia to host an annual tour stop, the PGA Tour has a new title sponsor for its rowdy winter Phoenix event. Formerly the FBR Open, Waste Management has assumed sponsorship of the Phoenix Open held at the TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course for the next six years.

The good news for the PGA Tour is that even though, as expected, financial companies like FBR are running out of title sponsorship cash, other sectors seem to be able to see use in using a PGA Tour stop to promote their company. Waste Management plans to showcase their stable of green solutions for sports companies, according to their press release.

With golf under the microscope for its impact on the environment, especially in parts of the world where water isn’t abundant like in the Valley of the Sun, I’ll be interested to see if Waste Management promotes the many positive strides golf has made in recent years to become eco-friendly. It’s a battle the golf industry must win, but is still getting black eyes from time to time.

I was in Scottsdale last week but didn’t play the TPC, host of what is now the Waste Management Phoenix Open. WorldGolf.com’s Mike Bailey is there now, checking out a lot of courses I didn’t see, and just played the TPC and jotted up a quick blog on what is an exciting course to play.

Now the obvious question: with Waste Management being the new sponsor, does this mean that fans at the 16th hole can chuck trash at golfers who miss the green or gag short birdie putts?

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