PGA’s Napa event set for return to Silverado

The PGA Tour officially announced Wednesday that its tournament in Napa, now known as the Fortinet Championship, will return to Silverado Resort.

Fortinet, a cybersecurity company headquartered in Sunnyvale, replaces Safeway as title sponsor. The event will be played Sept. 1619 and will launch the tour’s 202122 schedule, as The Chronicle reported last week.

The current season culminates Sept. 5 with the final round of the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Then there will be an open week before next season tees off at Silverado’s North Course, one week ahead of the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin.

The tournament in Napa had teetered on the brink of extinction, after Safeway chose not to renew its sponsorship deal when it expired last fall.

“Napa is an extremely popular stop for our players, their families and our fans,” PGA

Tour President Tyler Dennis said in a statement. “We look forward to having Fortinet help grow the event to maximize charitable impact for the Napa Valley community.”

The agreement with Fortinet covers six years, through 2026. This year’s tournament will feature a $7 million purse and will be televised on Golf Channel.

Stewart Cink won last year at Silverado, which has hosted the tour event since 2014. Other winners: Sangmoon Bae, Emiliano Grillo, Brendan Steele (twice), Kevin Tway and Sacramento native Cameron Champ.

Silverado also served as a PGA Tour stop from 1968 through ’80, with Hall of Famers Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Johnny Miller among the winners. Miller, now a partner in the resort’s ownership group, has served as tournament host in recent years.