Tiger Woods and understanding the new normal

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This week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba on the PGA TOUR will not only showcase some of the world’s top golf talent, but Jim Kavanaugh, CEO of sponsor WWT, and his team will also this unique opportunity as a platform to promote and educate the importance of “a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that fosters a sense of belonging.” World Wide Technology (WWT) is in its second year as title sponsor of the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, and the organization has dedicated a tremendous amount of their resources this week to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives that they will share to its hundreds of attending partners, clients, staff and guests. As one of the largest minority-owned companies in the United States, its mission of enforcing diversity, equity and inclusion is rooted in the company’s makeup. “As a global organization, it is critical for WWT to look at the world through a different view,” Kavanaugh said. “As we continue to focus on the landscape of our global business, it is extremely important to understand the different cultures and experiences of all of our employees at WWT. Building DEI into the DNA of our company and our core values supports these efforts, but it requires vigilance. “WWT is an organization that’s growing quickly. As a result, we must be very intentional about ensuring that DEI is embraced at every level of the organization and that we have buy-in from both leadership and employees. A true DEI strategy will aim to ensure that everyone is given equitable access to opportunity.” WWT serves as title sponsor of the Advocates Pro Golf Association (APGA) Player Development Program. Established in 2010, the APGA Tour is a non-profit organization with the mission to prepare African Americans and other minority golfers to compete and win at the highest level of professional golf, both on tour and in the golf industry. As part of WWT’s support, the top five eligible players from the final APGA Tour standings were brought to Mexico for the Monday qualifier, including Trey Valentine, Kamaiu Johnson, Andrew Walker, Ryan Alford and Marcus Byrd. These five players are also playing in Tuesday’s Pro-Am. In addition, former PGA TOUR pro Brad Adamonis earned an exemption into Mayakoba by winning last month’s APGA Tour’s inaugural Ascension Classic at Glen Echo Country Club in St. Louis. Kamaiu Johnson became the first player to win the World Wide Technology Player Development Program bonus pool reward with his victory in the Mastercard APGA Tour Championship at TPC San Antonio in August. He has earned a full exemption on to the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica. Following Tuesday’s Pro-Am, the participants and PGA TOUR pros will be treated to a short panel discussion with two of the APGA Players, Kamaiu Jonson and Andrew Walker, as well as APGA CEO Ken Bentley. The Q&A is hosted by Bob Ferrell, Executive Vice President, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Public Sector Strategy at World Wide Technology. Ferrell is a retired Army Lt. General, who joined WWT in 2017 after 38 years of service, culminated by his position at the Pentagon as Chief Information Officer for the Army. On Friday morning, WWT will host a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Panel, hosted by Michael Bush, CEO at Great Place to Work and a global chief executive with over 25 years of experience leading small and mid-sized organizations through transformational growth. The panel will consist of Dan Soto (Chief Compliance Officer, Ally Financial), Tanya Van Court (Founder & CEO, Goalsetter), Erik Moore (Managing Director, Base Ventures), and Chris Womack (President, Chairman & CEO, Georgia Power). “Much of our DEI journey has been led in large part by our workforce and their desire for a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that fosters a sense of belonging,” Kavanaugh emphasized. On the golf course, the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba will feature a marquee field that includes two-time defending champion Viktor Hovland of Norway; reigning Masters Tournament winner and PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler; two-time major champion Collin Morikawa; last week’s PGA TOUR winner Seamus Power of Ireland; and a significant contingent of top players throughout Latin America. Off the course, WWT executives will be in the community for such events as “Career Discovery Day” for 10th and 11th graders at local K’iin Beh School, participating in a “Career Readiness Workshop” for at least 20 local university students, and they are taking PGA TOUR players to K’iin Beh School, so the children can meet some of golf’s rising stars. The week will be punctuated by a CEO Beachside Chat with Jim Kavanaugh that will include a number of CEO and business leaders, including PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan; Jeff Holzschuh (Chairman, Institutional Securities Group for Morgan Stanley); Joseph Impicciche (CEO, Ascension); Ron Kruszewski (CEO, Stifel Financial Corporation); and Mike Descheneaux (CEO, Silicon Valley Bank). NBC Sports’ Steve Sands will also serve as a moderator for portions of this all-star gathering of global business voices.

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No longer will PGA TOUR players dip hands into a Rules official's upside-down hat to determine the order of play in extra holes. Instead, the TOUR will go to a first-to-finish, first-to-play format for playoffs. Players in the same group will play off in the same order in which they finished regulation play within their group. The TOUR Rules Committee's decision was made after a Player Advisory Council meeting at The Genesis Invitational last week and will go into effect immediately. Immediacy, in fact, was one of the driving factors for the change, which is expected to expedite the playoff process and tip broadcast partners ahead of time as to the order of play. The full e-mail is below: With support from the PAC during last week's meeting, the PGA TOUR Rules Committee is making a change to the "order of play" protocol used during tournament playoffs. Rather than deciding the order of play "by draw" as has been done in the past, beginning this week we will now use a procedure based on order of finish in the final round. The order of play within the playoff group will be done on a “first-to-finish, first-to-play” method. For players tied in the same final round group, order of play within the final round groupings will be used. Simplifying this procedure allows us to expedite the process to start the playoff and also allows our broadcast partners to know the order of play in advance.

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