(Morelia, Mexico) – The PGA TOUR’s Nationwide Tour and the Mexican Golf Federation announced today that Mexico’s premier golf tournament, the Mexico Open presented by Corona, will be added to the Nationwide Tour schedule in 2008. It will be the 50th playing of the Open.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed Tres Marias Golf Club in Morelia, Mexico will host the tournament, Jan. 28 – Feb. 3. It will be a 132-player field with 16 of the spots reserved for exemptions as determined by the Federation and four spots for members of the Tour de Las Americas. The purse will be $625,000.
"As one of golf’s oldest events, this sanctioning arrangement between the Nationwide Tour and the Mexico Open presented by Corona is exciting news for both of us," said Bill Calfee, president of the Nationwide Tour. "The Mexico Open has a wonderful history with World Golf Hall of Fame members Lee Trevino and Ben Crenshaw just two of the many players with PGA TOUR roots who have won the event. Golf is growing in popularity and stature in Mexico and next year’s celebration of the 50th Mexico Open presented by Corona will enhance that growth as well as the tournament and the Nationwide Tour."
The Mexico Open presented by Corona will be the second event of the 2008 Nationwide Tour season, following the Movistar Panama Championship in Panama City, Panama.
Golf Channel will air a 60-minute post-produced highlights show in the United States.
The Mexico Open was first played in 1944 and won the first four years by Al Espinosa, the 1929 U.S. Open playoff runner-up to Bobby Jones at Winged Foot. Over the years, many of golf’s most prominent players and major champions have played in the Mexico Open, including World Golf Hall of Fame members Sam Snead, Jimmy Demaret, Bobby Locke (1952 winner), Roberto De Vicenzo (1951, ’53 and ’55 winner), Billy Casper (1977 winner), Raymond Floyd, Seve Ballesteros, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino (1973 and ’75 winner), Ben Crenshaw (1981 winner) and Nick Price. Recent winners Chris Perry (1994), Stewart Cink (1996 and ’99) and Esteban Toledo (2000) are former or current Nationwide Tour members.
On Going Marketing Group of Mexico will serve as tournament organizer.
About the Mexican Golf Federation In April, 1926, ten clubs in Mexico formed the Golf Association of Mexico, an organization with a national reach. In 1947 it was re-named the Golf Association Mexicana and in 1977 it became the Mexican Golf Federation. The Mexican Golf Federation is affiliated with the Confederation of Mexican Sport and is a member of the Mexican Olympic Committee and the National Sports Commission, all institutions which recognize the Federation as the authority for amateur and professional golf in Mexico. The Federation organizes four annual tournaments, the National Amateur, National Pairs, National Match-Play and National Inter-Club. It also celebrates the National Junior tournament, plus three others in the same category; the National Interzones, National Match-Play and the National Champions. The only professional tournament run by the Federation is the Mexico Open, which has been promoted by On Going Marketing the last five years.
About the Tres Marias Golf Club
The large residential and sporting development of Tres Marias Golf Club is an enclave located on the outskirts of Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. Among its striking features are its clubhouse where the views encompass the surrounding mountains and golf course. It was inaugurated on July 18, 2004 and constructed by a group of visionary investors from Morelia led by Enrique Ramirez Magana. The golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, meets the challenge required to host professional competitions, having held a Canadian Tour event (2005) and two LPGA events (2006, 2007).
About On Going Marketing Group
On Going Marketing is a company dedicated to sports marketing and has conducted events in several sports in different parts of the world. It specializes in golf operations in the Mexican market. The company’s objective is to promote Mexico’s many fine golf courses and real estate developments. On Going Marketing Group has successfully operated the Mexico Open since 2003, bringing it to new heights in terms of player fields, operations, television reach and sanctioning. It brought international golf to Cancun for the first time in ’03 with the 46th playing of the Mexico Open.
About the Nationwide Tour
As an extension of the PGA TOUR, the Nationwide Tour identifies and transitions those select golfers whose games are ready to compete and win on golf’s greatest stage. Collectively, Nationwide Tour alumni have won 214 PGA TOUR events, including a grand slam of the major championships. Twenty-five PGA TOUR cards will be at stake over the course of 32 Nationwide Tour tournaments this season, with a record $18 million in prize money available. Recognizing this growing stature and the PGA TOUR’s commitment to charity, Nationwide, one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world, renewed its umbrella sponsorship of the Nationwide Tour through 2012. The PGA TOUR, through the efforts of its three tours and their tournaments, sponsors, players and volunteers, supports over 2,000 local charities and has surpassed $1 billion in charitable giving. To learn more about the Nationwide Tour’s rich history and the PGA TOUR’s next stars, visit www.PGATOUR.com.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, based in Columbus, OH, is one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world, with more than $160 billion in assets. Nationwide ranks No. 104 on the Fortune 500 list. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions and long-term savings plans. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.
Nationwide and the Nationwide Framework are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. On Your Side is a service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Contact:
Jeff Adams
Director of Communications
Nationwide Tour
Tel: 904-273-3397
Email: jadams@pgatourhq.com
Fernando Horgan
President
On Going Marketing Group
Email: fhorgan@og-m.com.ar
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