Buick Dealers Could Turn a Loss into a Save
Tiger Woods Wins Buick Open by Three Strokes By LARRY LAGE The Associated Press Monday, August 3, 2009 2:06 AM GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Tiger Woods won the Buick Open for a third time and claimed his 69th PGA Tour victory. Ho hum. Not quite. Woods shot a 3-under 69 and coasted to a three-shot victory with a 20-under 268 total at Warwick Hills, which hosted its first Buick Open in 1958 and seemed to stage its final one Sunday. "I've played all around the world, and I've never seen a day like this," said Woods, also the 2002 and 2006 winner at Warwick Hills. "This event has always been special, but today was something else." He acknowledged thinking about his walk up 18 at Warwick Hills being his last, leading to him throwing his ball with a lot of velocity back down the fairway to fans. He also tossed a ball into the gallery at 17. "I never do that, but today was different," Woods said. "We aren't coming back here, and I wanted to thank all these people."
_________________________________________________ The car industry, Michigan and the national associations of automobile dealers have all been taking it on the chin lately. Now, with the 51 year-old Buick Open golf tournament closing down, it's just another downer, yet one more humiliation for the industry.
Tiger Woods just won his third Buick Open and is probably good for three more before he hangs it up. What could possibly be better for the Buick brand? But GM has other worries and the die is cast. Unless . . . unless the nation's 3,000 Buick Dealers step forward to save the tournament everyone hates to see close down. There's a 90-day window for an alternative solution before the axe falls. $2,333 per dealer would make the $7 million budget for the Buick Open. Where you gonna get a 'deal' like that?