Purse for Andy Williams Open to Increase to $450,000 in 1986

Officials of The Century Club of San Diego made news in recent weeks by removing San Diego from the title of the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams Open.

But John Brophy, the club’s newly elected president, did not discuss trimming in a press conference Monday at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

Brophy announced that the tournament will feature a purse increase from $400,000 to $450,000. The 1986 Open winner will collect $81,000.

“The increased purse will help put us in the big leagues,” Brophy said. “Actually, we’ve always been in the big leagues. This is a commitment to stay there.”

The tournament’s new name omits the San Diego identification because of a recent PGA request for sponsors to avoid lengthy tournament titles. Shearson Lehman Brothers, a stock brokerage and investment firm, signed a three-year contract, with two one-year options.

The company’s $2 million-a-year financial commitment to the tournament includes the purse and a sufficient advertising budget to guarantee network television coverage.

In addition, Brophy presented Bob Breitbard with a donation of $25,000 to the Hall of Champions for the construction of a golf exhibit, to be completed by November 1985.

The tournament’s playing dates, which had been the second week of February in 1985 and the last week of January in 1984, have been moved to the first full week of February for 1986.

The new dates make the tournament the fifth stop on the California and Arizona portion of the PGA Tour.