Featured Groups: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Play Yellow, a program benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals), announced today its newest brand ambassador, two-time Masters champion and 12-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Bubba Watson. The TOUR superstar joins Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and fellow TOUR professionals in support of Play Yellow and its mission to bring the entire golf world together to help the 10 million kids treated at local CMN Hospitals each year. Bubba’s efforts for Play Yellow will primarily benefit his local CMN Hospital, Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, Florida. “It’s been my family’s privilege to support Studer Family Children’s Hospital, and I’m excited to continue that support as a Play Yellow ambassador,” said Watson. “I have seen the tremendous impact the Studer Family Children’s Hospital has had in my hometown of Pensacola, and I look forward to helping Play Yellow expand its support for all the hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. Golf has a long history of supporting children’s hospitals, and I am honored to help Jack and Barbara in their effort to make a difference in the lives of children and families in need.” Watson, a resident of Pensacola who was born at Ascension Sacred Heart in Pensacola, and his wife, Angie, have made generous donations toward the construction of the new four-story children’s hospital, which opened in May 2019. To recognize the ongoing support of the Watson family, the entrance road to the new children’s hospital was officially named 1 Bubba Watson Drive. “Bubba Watson is one of the all-time greats at helping causes he cares about,” says Chad Phillips, SVP, Play Yellow. “We are thrilled to have another Masters Champion joining Jack with a passion for his home CMN Hospital, in Bubba’s case, Studer Family Children’s in Pensacola, Florida. Bubba will no doubt be an amazing ambassador for Play Yellow.” Launched in 2019 alongside Jack and Barbara Nicklaus and CMN Hospitals, Play Yellow strives to bring the entire golf world together and raise the critical funds needed by CMN Hospitals and the patients they serve. Like most nonprofits, children’s hospitals rely on donations. And because 37 million kids in the United States depend on public health insurance programs that don’t reimburse hospitals for the full cost of caring for these patients, the need for donations is even greater. Play Yellow brings golfers together for a good cause. Play Yellow was inspired by a family friend of Jack and Barbara Nicklaus named Craig Smith who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma as a young teenager. As Craig battled cancer, Jack and Barbara looked to support him and his family. One way was for Jack to wear a shirt in Craig’s favorite color, yellow, which Craig said brought Jack luck from week to week. Over the years, Jack could be seen wearing yellow on tournament Sundays and major championship Sundays. Who can forget Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament when Jack wore a yellow shirt to honor Craig and went on to win his record sixth Green Jacket? Years later, Play Yellow was born. CMN Hospitals has raised more than $7 billion in unrestricted funds for 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada. Changing kids’ health through children’s hospitals isn’t just about helping those in critical situations — it’s also about the research, preventative care, health and safety education that help build healthier communities. By improving medical treatments, equipment and facilities, children’s hospitals can not only address the most challenging health issues of our day, but also prevent and prepare for those to come. When we change kids’ health, we change the future — for all of us.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida, and STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin (August 16, 2017) – The PGA TOUR and Sentry, one of the largest business-focused mutual insurance companies in the United States, today announced a five-year agreement making Sentry the new title sponsor of the exclusive winners-only Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii. The newly named Sentry Tournament of Champions will maintain its traditional spot as the first tournament in January 2018 when the 2017-18 PGA TOUR schedule resumes following the holiday break. The agreement extends through the 2021-22 season. “Sentry Insurance is proud to partner with the PGA TOUR to sponsor the Tournament of Champions, held on beautiful Maui,â€� said Pete McPartland, Sentry chairman of the board, president, and CEO. “This tournament and its champions format is the ideal way to more broadly introduce Sentry to the business insurance audience.â€� While this represents Sentry’s first major sports sponsorship, it has been involved with golf since 1984 when the company built SentryWorld, Wisconsin’s first destination golf course. Sponsoring the Sentry Tournament of Champions is considered a natural next step for Sentry, providing an opportunity to reach a wide business audience. “We are thrilled to welcome Sentry to the PGA TOUR and become its first major venture into sports sponsorship,â€� said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Senior Vice President of Sponsorship & Partnership. “Sentry is highly respected as a company that is dedicated to its employees, its customers and embraces the spirit of giving back. So, we view this as a relationship between two organizations that hold common values.â€� Sentry assumes sponsorship of a tournament that dates to 1953, when it was introduced at Las Vegas’ Desert Inn Country Club as an event for winners from the previous season. The Tournament of Champions remained at Desert Inn CC until 1967, when it moved to Stardust Country Club. The tournament moved from Las Vegas in 1969 to La Costa Country Club in Carlsbad, California, where it remained for 30 years before relocating to its current home at Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui. As might be expected with a winners-only format, the Sentry Tournament of Champions has a rich history of champions, from World Golf Hall of Fame members to modern-day stars, as represented by just the past five winners: defending champion Justin Thomas, a four-time winner this season, including at Sunday’s PGA Championship; Jordan Spieth (2016); Patrick Reed (2015); Zach Johnson (2014); and Dustin Johnson (2013). About Sentry: Sentry Insurance is one of the largest and most financially secure mutual insurance companies in the United States, holding an A+ (superior) rating from A.M. Best. Sentry and its subsidiaries sell property and casualty insurance, life insurance, annuities, and retirement programs for business and individuals throughout the country. Headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Sentry employs more than 4,000 associates in 41 states. See a complete list of underwriting companies at sentry.com. About PGA TOUR: The PGA TOUR is the leading global platform in professional golf, showcasing the highest expression of excellence, both on and off the course. The PGA TOUR’s mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in the communities in which it plays, grow and protect the game of golf and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players. The PGA TOUR co-sanctions more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR China. Its members represent the world’s best players, hailing from 24 countries (89 members are from outside the United States). Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to more than 1.1 billion households in 227 countries and territories in 23 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2016, tournaments across all Tours generated a record of more than $166 million for local and national charitable organizations, bringing the all-time total to $2.46 billion. The PGA TOUR’s web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

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