Lutz, FL, February 15, 2006 -Officials of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am announced three major changes to the Tampa Bay Area-based Champions Tour tournament at the 2006 Media Day event featuring defending champion, Hale Irwin.
First, Outback Steakhouse has extended its contract as title sponsor of the increasingly popular event for four years, beginning with the 2007 tournament. The contract extension takes Outback’s involvement in the tournament through the 2010 tournament.
Second, tournament officials have negotiated to move the television broadcast of the tournament to NBC, starting with the 2007 tournament. The television contract is currently part of the Champions Tour broadcast package with The Golf Channel. The move to NBC will dramatically increase the number of available households that will have access to viewing the broadcast.
Third, in 2007, Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am tournament dates will move forward one week, swapping schedule slots with the ACE Group Classic in Naples. The 2007 tournament will be held February 12-18.
2006 Media Day was held at the TPC of Tampa Bay, in Lutz, FL.
"These moves are instrumental to the growth of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am as the premier non-major tournament on the Champions Tour," said Amy Hawk, tournament director for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. "Our format is custom-made for drawing strong network TV ratings, and the scheduling change and extension of Outback’s involvement in the tournament were critical to finalizing the TV contract," Hawk continued.
"Outback Steakhouse’s commitment to the Champions Tour is now stronger than ever," said Outback Steakhouse Chairman, Chris Sullivan. "We have proven that we can draw big names, big crowds and make significant contributions to Tampa Bay area charities. We could not think of a better network partner to align ourselves with to grow this tournament, than NBC," concluded Sullivan.
"We are looking forward to coming to this hotbed of golf, the Greater Tampa Bay area, to broadcast one of the best events on the Champions Tour," said Tom Roy, NBC Sports Golf Producer.
"The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am is a very strong tournament that got even stronger with today’s news," said Champions Tour president Rick George. "It demonstrates Outback Steakhouse’s commitment to the Champions Tour and to raising a lot of more money for charity in the Tampa Bay area in the coming years. Outback has been very innovative and creative since coming on board as a Champions Tour title sponsor in 2004. We are very excited about this extension through 2010 and adding yet another tournament to our lineup of events on NBC."
Celebrity Commitments for 2006 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am
â?¢ Kevin Costner
â?¢ Mark Wahlberg
â?¢ Joe Theismann
â?¢ Boomer Esiason
â?¢ Derrick Brooks
â?¢ Ronde Barber
â?¢ Carolyn Kepcher
â?¢ Lou Piniella
â?¢ Jim Courier
â?¢ Anthony "Booger" McFarland
About the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am & Tournament Format
In its first two years, the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am Foundation, Inc. raised $1.2 million through corporate sponsorships and other charitable donations. Since its inception 18 years ago, this tournament has contributed over $6.1 million to Tampa Bay area charities.
This year’s charities are: The Spring of Tampa Bay Inc. Junior Achievement of West Central Florida, Inc., Special Olympics Hillsborough County, Pepin Heart Hospital and Research Institute at University Community Hospital and Easter Seals Florida, Inc.
The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am Charity Foundation Inc. is a 501 C 3 not-for-profit organization founded in October of 2003.
The tournament format includes a full 76-player Champions Tour field plus 76 amateurs and celebrities will have the opportunity to play under actual tournament conditions throughout the weekend. The Champions Tour players will compete with each other in the normal scoring format. On Friday & Saturday – One (1) amateur with one (1) professional will play in a team format (76 twosomes). Team scoring will be one best ball of two. The amateur will play with the same professional throughout the competition. On Sunday, 12 pro-am teams will continue based on low score. Starting times will be made based on the professionals score in the competition.
The Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am will be played at the TPC of Tampa Bay in Lutz, FL, February 20 – 26, 2006.
About the Champions Tour
The Champions Tour is a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older. Conceived in 1980 as the Senior PGA Tour, it started with just four events and purses totaling $475,000. The Champions Tour now has 29 official events offering a minimum of $52.65 million in prize money in 2006 and its highest average purse ever of $1.82 million. The Champions Tour’s primary purpose is to provide significant competitive and earnings opportunities for players age 50 and older; to protect the integrity of the game; and to help grow the reach of the game in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to providing competitive opportunities for its membership, Champions Tour events also generate significant sums of money for charity. On October 30th, 2005 the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour and their tournaments, announced they had reached the $1 billion milestone in charitable donations dating back to the first recorded donation in 1938. The commissioner of the PGA TOUR is Tim Finchem. Rick George is president of the Champions Tour. TOUR headquarters is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Our web site address is PGATOUR.com.
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