Teva Phases Out Duramed Brand, LPGA Futures Sponsorship

On the heels of last week's good news that Wegman's is renewing the LPGA Championship sponsorship for an additional two years, it looks like Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. has ended its title sponsorship of the LPGA Futures Tour.

Emily Kay of the Golf Examiner writes that "Duramed quietly seceded as title sponsor of the LPGA’s developmental tour because parent company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. no longer uses its subsidiary’s brand name, according to LPGA Futures Tour spokesperson Joely Pique."

“We have several interested parties, but none that we expect to be ready to go by the beginning of 2011,” Pique told Golf Examiner.

It's unclear how the Tour will proceed should it be unable to replace Duramed with a new title sponsor, but it is currently hiring for a Manager of Tournament Sponsorship Sales position for the FUTURES Tour which will according to the job description be responsible for sales that meet the annual revenue goal and budget for LPGA FUTURES TOUR owned events (estimated in the $400,000-$500,000 range annually).

Meanwhile, back to the good news. Here's LPGA Championship defending champion Cristie Kerr thanking Wegmans for their support of the LPGA in the video below. A smart gesture of player support, but nothing new for the LPGA. Before every LPGA tournament, players receive briefs on who the major sponsors for that week's stop are, along with bios of sponsor decision makers that will be attending the event, so that the players can personally thank sponsors over the course of the weekend.