Past champion David Duval, Rocco Mediate, USC product Jamie Lovemark also among exemptions
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Youth will be served at the 51st Bob Hope Classic, Jan. 18-24. Rickie Fowler, one of the leading candidates for 2010 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year honors, and Arnold Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, have been awarded sponsor’s exemptions. Fowler received an exemption via his finish at the 2009 Q-school and Saunders was awarded an unrestricted exemption.
The Classic also announced other recipients of sponsor’s exemptions. Earning a berth via the 2009 Q-school was Joe Ogilvie. Restricted exemptions went to Steve Elkington and Billy Mayfair, and unrestricted exemptions were awarded to 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., native and USC product Jamie Lovemark, and 1999 champion and author of closing-round 59 David Duval.
Fowler, 20, a Murietta, Calif., native who now resides in Las Vegas, was the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and ’08. He was a two-time first-team All-American at Oklahoma State and won the Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson awards. He turned professional in 2009 after winning all four of his matches to help the United States to a Walker cup victory. Fowler came close to winning twice early in his professional career, losing a playoff at the Nationwide Tour’s Children’s Hospital Invitational, and at the PGA TOUR’s Frys.com Open. He tied for seventh in his first PGA TOUR event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He earned nearly $600,000 in just eight PGA TOUR starts in 2009, and then claimed his PGA TOUR card for 2010 by tying for 15th at the 2009 Q-school.
Saunders, 22, had an excellent amateur career at Clemson University and was medalist at the 2005 U.S. Junior Amateur. He turned pro in 2009. Arnold Palmer is a five-time champion of the Bob Hope Classic.
Defending champion Pat Perez and past champions Mark Brooks, Chad Campbell, Joe Durant, Charley Hoffman, Justin Leonard and Mike Weir are among the other early pro entries for the 2010 Classic. Famed musician Kenny G, future baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, actor/game show host John O’Hurley and actor Kurt Russell are among the initial celebrity athletes and entertainers set to participate.
Other early pro entries include Michael Bradley, Tim Clark, Brian Gay, Nathan Green, Paul Goydos, Jerry Kelly, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, La Quinta resident Scott McCarron, Ryan Moore, Kevin Na, Michael Sim, Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker, David Toms and Bo Van Pelt. Gay, Toms, Na, Kelly, Kuchar, Weir, Clark and Leonard were in the top 30 on the PGA TOUR money list in 2009. Bradley, Gay, Green, Kelly, Kuchar, Laird, Moore, Perez, Slocum and Van Pelt won in 2009 on the PGA TOUR.
Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra has been named the first-ever “Classic Ambassador.” Berra, who played in the Classic 15 times from 1995-2009, will perform a wide variety of duties on behalf of the 2010 Classic.
Other early celebrity participants for the 2010 Classic, a desert tradition since 1960, include: musicians Alice Cooper, Don Felder (formerly of the Eagles) and Robby Krieger (The Doors), singers Josh Kelley and Clay Walker, actors Anthony Anderson (Law and Order), William Devane (24, The West Wing), Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), Jerry Ferrara (Entourage), Joel Gretsch (V), Oliver Hudson (Rules of Engagement), Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives), Chris O’Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles), Stephanie Szostak (The Devil Wears Prada), Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld), actor/comedian Kevin Nealon, comedian Tom Dreesen, Grammy Award-nominated stand-up comic Ron White, television show personality and author Dr. Phil McGraw, former Major League Baseball and National Football League standout Bo Jackson, 2008 American League Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria, former NHL star Jeremy Roenick, former Green Bay Packers wide receiver and NFL analyst Sterling Sharpe, NFL all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith, Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Bruce Smith, and six-time Pro Bowl selection and “Dancing With the Stars” runner-up Jason Taylor. The celebrity field’s schedule is as follows: Wednesday, Jan. 20, SilverRock Resort; Thursday, Jan. 21, La Quinta Country Club; Friday, Jan. 22, Nicklaus Private at PGA WEST; Saturday, Jan. 23, Arnold Palmer Private at PGA WEST.
Practice rounds for the 2010 Classic at all four courses will be conducted Monday, Jan. 18 and Tuesday, Jan. 19. Tournament play begins Wednesday, Jan. 20 and concludes Sunday, Jan. 24 at the Palmer Private at PGA WEST. The five-day Classic features 128 top PGA TOUR professionals and 384 amateur contestants, including 30 celebrities. All five days of the Classic will be televised on Golf Channel. At stake is a purse of $5 million, $900,000 to the winner.
The Classic has taken its fan-friendly experience to a new level. Its new Web site, www.bobhopeclassic.com, is one of many platforms by which fans can more easily gain information about, and purchase tickets for, the 2010 Classic.
Along with the new Web site, fans can follow pre-tournament and tournament-week action on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BobHopeClassic) and on Twitter (@bobhopeclassic). There, fans can not only catch up on Classic news and see exclusive celebrity photos and quotes from the always-popular Pro-Am, but enter a variety of contests for the chance to win Bob Hope Classic tickets and other tournament prizes. From a haiku contest to photo caption contests to trivia, fans have a multitude of chances to win.
In 50 years, the Classic has donated more than $47 million to charities throughout the Coachella Valley. For more information, go to www.bobhopeclassic.com or call 1.888.MRBHOPE (672.4673).
Contact:
Toby Zwikel
(818) 462-5599
Pat Bennett
(760) 346-8184
