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GREENSBORO — The Wyndham Championship may have a hard time landing professional golf's biggest names, but attracting corporate sponsors is another story.

Tournament officials said Tuesday they expect to sell out their entire inventory of skyboxes and suites for next month's tournament at Sedgefield Country Club, joining New Orleans as the only two PGA Tour events to do so this year.

Wyndham's list of sponsors shows just how hard tournament officials are working to make what was once a Greensboro event a regional affair, tournament director Mark Brazil said.

A year ago, roughly 10 percent of corporate sponsorship — the driving force behind any PGA Tour event's success — came from outside Greensboro. Brazil estimates half of the tournament's corporate sponsorship this year comes from outside Greensboro.

"We're seeing more businesses outside of Greensboro now than ever embrace this tournament," said Bobby Long, chairman of the charitable foundation that runs the Wyndham. "We've talked a lot and for a long time about the Triad's communities coming together. This is proof that for the first time in a long time we're doing that."

Title sponsors — in Greensboro's case, Wyndham — receive most of the attention, but a tournament's secondary sponsorships are just as important to an event's financial success.

Brazil estimates Wyndham will rake in about $4 million this year from secondary sponsors, which is close to what the hospitality company is paying for the right to put its name on the event.

Tournament officials maintained prices from last year and have been flexible in selling this year. Instead of offering one large suite around a green, Wyndham officials have broken suites into smaller sections to accommodate sponsors unable to commit to the cost of a large quite. Air-conditioned suites and skyboxes, which range in price from $37,000 to $70,000, come with food and beverages for the week.

Tournament officials have one partial skybox remaining to sell on the 16th green. Asking price: $20,000.

Brazil said he expects to sell it in the coming weeks.

Greensboro's impending sellout is remarkable given the current economy. No professional sport has escaped the nation's recession, but golf has been hit especially hard.

Every tournament has been dealing with a turnover of sponsorships, much of it brought on by struggles in the financial and U.S. auto industries. Troubled automakers Chrysler and General Motors, once major sponsors on the tour, have since pulled back. GM is expected next week to pull its sponsorship from the Buick Open, citing financial difficulties. This month's tour stop in Milwaukee was the last sponsored by U.S. Bank, and Stanford Financial was the sponsor of several other tournaments, including the St. Jude Championship and Tour Championship.

Meanwhile, Wyndham officials announced a few more golfers have committed to play at Sedgefield, including two-time champion Davis Love III, 2007 champ Brandt Snedeker and Nathan Green, who won the Canadian Open on Monday.

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com