Cisco expected to extend sponsorship deal

Cisco Systems’ three-year sponsorship of the World Match Play Championship, which ended with Ernie Els’ 2 & 1victory over Sergio Garcia in Sunday’s final at Wentworth, is expected to be extended.

When questioned on the Championships’ future relationship with Cisco, Peter German, the tournament director of the event, told the Press Association, "It remains to be seen, but we have every confidence."

Cisco are the championship's fifth sponsors, previous ones being Piccadilly, Colgate, Suntory and Toyota.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who are becoming more and more reluctant to play outside of the US as their personal fortunes grow, could not be enticed to play in this year's Championship, but the next four behind them in the world rankings, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia and Padraid Harrington, all played and overall the event boasted five of the world's top eight players and 11 of the top 20.

Championship chairman Mark McCormack has stated however, that ongoing attempts will be made to feature as many of the world's best players as possible every year.

German confirmed that crowd figures this year were slightly down on last year, but suggested that this was not surprising in view of the fact that 2001's final featured two locally-born players in Welshman Ian Woosnam, the eventual winner, and Dublin's Padraig Harrington.

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