IMG to Manage LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship

IMG has signed a deal to manage and operate the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship for the next two years.

The deal between IMG and Kraft Foods, asthma owner of the Kraft Nabisco event, cialis means IMG now manages two of the four majors on the LPGA. It also operates the RICOH Women’s British Open.

“This just opens us up to having a world-class golf owner/operator be in charge of this event, positioning us to go to the next level,” said tournament director Gabe Codding, who shifts from being a Kraft employee to working for IMG.

MG, based in Cleveland, Ohio, is best known for owning and operating tournaments around the world as well as representing top players in golf, including Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam and active players like Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Se Ri Pak and Michelle Wie on the LPGA. The company is perhaps best known for its work with Arnold Palmer in the 1960s as well as Tiger Woods in the 1990s and into the 2000s. In the desert IMG is known for having owned and managed the Skins Game from 1986 to 2008.

David Livingston, senior vice president and director of North American sales for IMG Golf, said his company is excited to be part of one of the LPGA’s most historic and well-known tournaments.

“I think our focus is going to be increased awareness of the history and prestige of this tournament on a national and international level,” Livingston said

The IMG contract will cover the 2013 and 2014 playing of the tournament at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. That coincides with Kraft’s contract with the LPGA to operate the tournament.

David Blake-Thomas, the tournament chairman for Kraft Foods, said the deal with IMG was a result of an overall comprehensive review of all of Kraft’s business operations as that company was splitting into two companies in the last two years. That split became official Oct. 1, with Kraft Foods now operating North American activities and a new company called Mondelez overseeing an international food company. The Kraft Nabisco Championship was placed under the Kraft Foods umbrella.