LEHI — The crowds may have been down a bit from previous years, and the overall purse was less than it had been the first three years, yet the Champions Challenge is alive and well and appears to be on solid footing for the foreseeable future.
Johnny Miller, who helped start the event three years ago at the golf course he designed, is confident that the tournament will be around for a while.
"We're definitely on for next year," he said after he and his son Andy tied for fifth place Tuesday. "I think it's a heck of an event. I think we're better off than we've ever been."
By now, bringing in the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin and Billy Casper every year is getting to be old hat for local golf fans. This year, Raymond Floyd and Utah golfers Mike Weir and Bruce Summerhays were added to the field, but Miller struggles to get the really big-name golfers to come in.
Miller said they were "really close" to getting Phil Mickelson, whose wife is from Sandy, to play this year. A year ago he thought there was a chance to get Tiger Woods on a one-time basis, but says that dream is fading.
"It's probably getting slimmer," Miller said. "He's just in a different league now. I don't think he'll cross the street for under a quarter million dollars.
"His appearance fee is a million dollars now and to have him come play, he'd have to be doing a real favor for me and for the state of Utah. But we're working on it."