Southwest Florida golf: QBE Insurance Group new title sponsor for Shark Shootout

April 11--The Shark Shootout is staying in Naples at least through its 30th anniversary in 2018. And it has a new title sponsor.

QBE, one of the largest insurers and reinsurers in the world, and tournament founder and host Greg Norman announced an agreement Tuesday for the Australia-based company to take over from Franklin Templeton as title sponsor beginning with this year's PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament, which will be Dec. 6-10 back at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. The tournament will be known as the QBE Shootout.

The tournament's agreement between both QBE and the course is for multiple years, according to tournament director Rob Hartman. The purse will remain $3.1 million.

"As one of the world's premier insurance brands, QBE is the perfect partner for this event and we are thrilled to have them as our new title sponsor," Norman said in a release. "The QBE Shootout is the longest running late-season tournament on the tour calendar and this new agreement assures a 30-year anniversary in 2018 which is sure to be a landmark event."

"Since 2001, the Shootout has enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Tiburón Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort and we

are excited to continue our longstanding partnership as the QBE Shootout celebrates its 29th year and 17th in Naples this December," Hartman said. "Tiburón, the Ritz-Carlton and the Southwest Florida community continue to offer our tour professionals, pro-am participants, corporate partners and spectators a first-class guest experience that is second to none."

QBE is in the same business as Chubb (formerly ACE Group), which has been the title sponsor of Naples' PGA Tour Champions event -- the Chubb Classic -- since 1999.

Franklin Templeton will remain involved with the Shootout as a sponsor as it has for decades. It's been the title sponsor for 20 of the Shootout's 28 years. It remained a sponsor when Merrill Lynch was in the title sponsor role from 2006-10 (Merrill Lynch invoked a clause not to be in the name of the tournament for the last two years of its role). When Merrill Lynch/Bank of America decided not to renew after the 2010 event, Franklin Templeton stepped forward again as title sponsor.

QBE was a sponsor -- not the title one -- for the first time in 2016. QBE Insurance Group is headquartered in Sydney. The company employees more than 14,000 people in 37 countries, with major U.S. regional headquarters in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco.

"We are pleased to become the title sponsor of one of the most recognizable events on the PGA Tour schedule," said Russ Johnston, Chief Executive Officer of QBE North America, in a release. "In addition to the Shootout bringing together some of the world's best and most prominent names in golf, the tournament provides financial support for very worthwhile charities. Giving back to our communities is in our DNA, which is why the opportunity to sponsor the Shootout was very attractive to us. There's a very close alignment between the goals of the QBE Charitable Foundation and the philanthropic mission of Greg Norman's event."

Harris English and Matt Kuchar won the Shootout last year by one stroke over Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly. It was the second title in three years for English and Kuchar, who are expected to defend their title this December. Last year's event also featured an LPGA Tour player -- Lexi Thompson -- for just the second time. Annika Sorenstam was the first.

The 2017 field will consist of 24 professionals paired into 12 two-person teams. The QBE Shootout will once again have a scramble format during the first round, a modified alternate shot format on Saturday, and a final-round better ball on Sunday.

"For nearly thirty years, the QBE Shootout has been a favorite event on many players' late-year schedule," said Andy Pazder, Chief Tournament and Competitions Officer for the PGA Tour, in a release. "The opportunity to play in a team event with three unique formats makes it an exciting tournament for our players, spectators and television viewers. With QBE Insurance's support, we're very excited about the event's future."

For more information, visit the official tournament website at www.qbeshootout.com, go to Facebook www.facebook.com/qbeshootout and follow @QBEshootout on Twitter.

Shark Shootout title sponsor history

1989-90 -- Ronald McDonald Children's Charities Invitational

1991 -- Shark Shootout Benefiting RMCC

1992-94 -- Franklin Funds Shark Shootout

1995-99 -- Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout

2000-05 -- Franklin Templeton Shootout

2006-08 -- Merrill Lynch Shootout

2009-10 -- Shark Shootout (Merrill Lynch still operated as title sponsor)

2011-16 -- Franklin Templeton Shootout

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