Rickie Fowler leads after Round 2 of the Waste Management Phoenix Open

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - The PGA TOUR announced today that Women of Color Golf & Girls on the Green Tee, a Tampa-based non-profit beneficiary of the Valspar Championship, has been named the 2020 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year. With a mission of promoting and facilitating the inclusion of minority women and girls in the game of golf, Women of Color Golf (WOCG) seeks to create interest and boost participation with organized clinics, recreational events, business networking and mentoring opportunities. Girls on the Green Tee (GOTGT) is a golf and mentoring program designed by WOCG for 9- to 17-year-old girls. Over a five-week training period, girls are introduced to the game, develop friendships with their peers and are mentored by a caring and professional group of female leaders in the community, providing the girls opportunities they may not otherwise have. "Copperhead Charities and the Valspar Championship were honored to nominate Women of Color Golf and the Girls on the Green Tee initiative to be the 2020 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year," said Tracy West, President, Copperhead Charities and Tournament Director, Valspar Championship. "Their vision of bringing the game of golf to girls in underserved communities will make a positive impact for years to come. Golf not only reinforces great values such as sportsmanship, perseverance and integrity, it is a game that can be played for life. We are humbled that the TOUR chose to support Women of Color Golf and our Tampa Bay community, and we look forward to hosting the girls as our guests at our Valspar Championship next April." The award comes with a $30,000 grant from the PGA TOUR to assist WOCG & GOTGT in expanding their footprint. Over the last four years, the GOTGT program has operated at The Center 4 Girls in Tampa, Florida, and will now make plans for expansion in two elementary schools in the Hillsborough County Public Schools system - Clemmie Ross James Elementary and Doris Ross Reddick Elementary. The schools, which provide limited options for girls' sports programs, are in under-served communities and with predominantly low-income students. The students at James Elementary are primarily African American (77.36 percent), while the students at Reddick are primarily Hispanic (78.95 percent). "On behalf of the Women of Color Golf and Girls on the Green Tee, we are grateful to the PGA TOUR for the Charity of the Year Award," said Clemmie C. Perry, Founder & Executive Director, Women of Color Golf (WOCG) & Girls on the Green Tee (GOTGT). "Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to the future success of the golf industry. We are proud that the PGA TOUR is dedicated to make golf more accessible to under-represented communities, equally and inclusively." Backed by its network of volunteers, the PGA TOUR and its tournaments generated a record $204.3 million for local and national charitable organizations in 2019, bringing the all-time total to more than $3 billion. The 2020 Valspar Championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a new date and headlined by two-time defending champion Paul Casey, the 2021 Valspar Championship will be held April 26-May 2 at Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead).

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - The PGA TOUR announced today the four featured groupings for the opening rounds of the 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. For the first time in tournament history, the event will offer full FedExCup points (500), after being postponed to September as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will be featured twice in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season, with the tournament being played again in March. To watch the featured groupings on Thursday-Friday, fans in the United States can tune into the Golf Channel telecast (3-6 p.m. ET). Live audio coverage is also available on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (Sirius 208, XM 92), and streams free via PGATOUR.COM (pgatour.com/liveaudio) as well as the TOUR's official iPhone, iPad and Android apps. Featured Groups Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, Corey Conners • McDowell seeks to successfully defend his title, having collected his fourth career PGA TOUR victory at the 2019 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (first win on TOUR since 2015) • Stenson, winner of the FedExCup in 2013, will make his tournament debut in Punta Cana and is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 43 in the Official World Golf Ranking • In 2019-20, Conners advanced to the BMW Championship for the second consecutive season and finished No. 53 in the FedExCup standings with 10 top-25 finishes Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Long, Keith Mitchell • Hughes, who finished runner-up at the event in 2019, advanced to the TOUR Championship last season for the first time in his career after making a five-foot putt on the 72nd hole of the BMW Championship; had the best finish in the 2019-20 FedExCup standings of any player in the field (No. 14) • On the strength of two runner-up finishes in the 2019-20 season, Long advanced to the BMW Championship and finished No. 31 in the FedExCup standings, less than three points out of the TOUR Championship • Mitchell finished solo-second at the 2018 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, which is among eight top-ten finishes in his 77 career starts on the PGA TOUR Emiliano Grillo, Jhonattan Vegas, Charley Hoffman • 2016 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year and Puntacana Resort & Club ambassador Grillo finished the 2019-20 season No. 93 in the FedExCup standings, advancing to the FedExCup Playoffs for the fifth time in as many seasons as a member • A three-time PGA TOUR winner, Vegas is set to make his second tournament start (T26/2019) after concluding the 2019-20 season No. 139 in the standings • Making his second start of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season, Hoffman is one of ten players in the field with four or more TOUR victories Pat Perez, Kevin Chappell, Charles Howell III Notable: Combining for seven PGA TOUR victories, all three players are set to make their tournament debuts at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship • Perez opened the 2020-21 season with a T9 showing at the Safeway Open, carding four rounds in the 60s for the first time since the 2019 Mayakoba Golf Classic • Chappell became the 10th player in TOUR history (11th instance) with a sub-60 round after carding a 59 in the second round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in 2019 • Playing in his 12th U.S. Open, Howell finished 30th at Winged Foot Golf Club last week for his ninth made cut in the event

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Paul Azinger will become NBC Sports’ lead golf analyst in 2019, following Johnny Miller’s retirement at the Waste Management Phoenix Open (Jan. 31-Feb. 3). Azinger won 12 times on the PGA TOUR, including the 1992 TOUR Championship and 1993 PGA Championship. He also was captain of the 2008 Ryder Cup team. He has enjoyed a lengthy broadcasting career since retiring as a player, serving as the lead golf analyst for ABC and ESPN from 2006-2015. He joined Fox Sports’ broadcast of USGA championships in 2016 and will continue to serve in that role. “I have great admiration for both the quality of NBC Sports’ coverage and commitment to great storytelling, as well as the network’s deep commitment to the game I love,� Azinger said. “It is a great honor to cover a tremendous slate of PGA TOUR and marquee events, including THE PLAYERS, The Open, Ryder Cup and Tokyo Olympics. Additional opportunities to contribute to instructional and historical projects, as well as Golf Channel’s top-notch news platforms, makes this the role of a lifetime.� Following his breakthrough major championship victory at the PGA Championship at Inverness, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After battling the disease for months with intensive chemotherapy and radiation, he was able to return to golf and received the Golf Writers Association of America Ben Hogan Award in 1995, which recognizes a professional golfer who remains active in the sport despite serious illness or physical handicap. Azinger’s comeback was fully realized in 2000, when at the age of forty, he won the Sony Open in Hawaii. Additionally, Azinger will contribute to Golf Channel’s portfolio of platforms, ranging from Golf Central’s Live From the Masters alongside former colleague Mike Tirico; develop instructional content for both on-air and via Revolution Golf; and develop documentary projects for Golf Channel’s Emmy-nominated and critically-acclaimed Golf Films. Azinger’s NBC Sports schedule in 2019, which will regularly include all four days of tournament coverage on Golf Channel and NBC, will kick off at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship (Feb. 21-24). NBC Sports will allow Azinger to continue to call The Masters for the BBC, as well as the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open on FOX. “Paul is one of the most perceptive minds in golf,� said Tommy Roy, lead golf producer, NBC Sports. “His innate ability to dissect the action in front of him and convey it to the viewer in such a concise, assured manner is what we value most across our tournament broadcast team.�

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