The Firestone Country Club has hosted professional golf for 72 years, a run that included eight Tiger Woods victories and a stretch of dominance that made the South Course a must-watch on television. That long history ends this Sunday as the Kaulig Companies Championship wraps up, and the PGA Tour champions depart Akron. The Tour will now be at Newport Beach, California, starting in 2027. Kaulig Company reportedly chose not to renew its sponsorship, and attendance has thinned out since 2019, a steep drop from the galleries that packed the fairways to watch Woods win. With the finish line just days away, many PGA Tour veteran pros mourn the loss.

“I was around when they lost Castle Pines, the International. I had a really close relationship with the owner, the members, and the residents, and that was a hard one to take. This one’s even harder because this is a longer period that’s just going to be washed away,” PGA veteran pro Ernie Els said.

Since becoming Champions Tour eligible, he has been a consistent leaderboard fixture. His breakthrough at the Firestone was a title in 2024.

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“This golf course stood the test of time,” two-time Ryder Cup member and 14-time PGA Tour winner Kenny Perry said. “I don’t understand why we are leaving. I guess the dollars talk.”

Other veterans in the field have echoed the same sentiment.

Rocco Mediate, whose 2008 U.S. Open playoff loss to Woods made him a beloved figure, has deep Firestone roots.

His Firestone roots predate Els’s. His first appearance on the course was at the World Series of Golf in 1991. That long relationship came through even as he joked about the tournament’s financial shortfall.

“We are sad, but we are not mad. Firestone has been good, so good to all of us. It’s something you really wish would never go away, but sometimes things change. You never know, something might not come back someday.”

Paul Goydos, a two-time PGA Tour winner who famously shot 59 at the 2010 John Deere Classic, first made his appearance at Firestone in 1996. He has argued that the venue deserves better than a downgrade. “This is a place where Tiger Woods has made memories. I don’t think the future of Firestone is going to be a second-tier event,” he said when asked what the future of the course would be.

Firestone isn’t the first storied venue the tour has walked away from

Westchester Country Club, once home to a marquee PGA Tour event for over 30 years, saw its tournament relocate before eventually folding into a different market entirely.

Trump National Doral, moreover, lost its WGC-Cadillac Championship in 2016 after decades as a springtime staple, with the tournament moving to Mexico City.

Another such example is Cog Hill’s Dubsdread course, which lost the BMW Championship in 2019, ending an association that had defined the club for a generation of Chicago golf fans.

In each case, similar reasons were cited: sponsorship dollars, scheduling logistics, and softening attendance outweighing nostalgia.

For now, Firestone officials say they aren’t giving up. A club spokesperson said the venue hopes to bring “more professional golf” back in the future. The local organisers in Akron are already pitching proposals to reclaim a spot on tour.