Player will be ambassador for health and well-being and serve as co-host at PGA Tour event
La Quinta, CA – January 2, 2014 – Golf legend Gary Player and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), one of the nation’s leading health and well-being companies, announced today the continuation of their three-year partnership as the Black Knight will once again co-host at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, California on January 13-19, 2014. Since the partnership’s inception last year, Player has served as a national spokesman for the health care company, promoting lifelong well-being and healthy living through proper diet and exercise. Player has also joined forces with Humana to help address the increasing challenges of childhood obesity.
“I firmly believe that The Humana Challenge is one of the most important events on the TOUR schedule. Humana and the PGA TOUR have created an incredible platform to raise awareness for healthy living and I am honored to play a key role in spreading a message that is close to my heart,” said Player, who has won more than 165 professional tournaments worldwide, including nine major championships, and is one of only five individuals to win the coveted Grand Slam of golf.
Sponsored by Humana and the William J. Clinton Foundation, the 2014 Humana Challenge is an annual PGA TOUR event featuring 156 professionals playing at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club. To date, the event has successfully raised more than $2.1 million for charity and was named “Sports Event of the Year” by The Sports Business Journal.
Player has been an advocate of healthy living through proper diet and exercise and has maintained an incredible level of fitness throughout his legendary golfing career. At the age of 78, Player is recognized as an ambassador to fitness and serves as a role model for many of today’s up-and-coming PGA TOUR stars. The 2014 Humana Challenge takes place fresh off a milestone year for Player, which included his 60th anniversary as a professional and the 30th anniversary of his philanthropic endeavor, The Player Foundation.
“I greatly admire the efforts and commitment of Humana and President Clinton to promote lifelong well-being. Over my 60-year golfing career, I placed great emphasis on fitness and a healthy diet and at this stage in my life, I am really seeing the benefits of my lifelong commitment more than ever,” Player said.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health-care company that offers a wide range of insurance products and health and wellness services that incorporate an integrated approach to lifelong well-being. By leveraging the strengths of its core businesses, Humana believes it can better explore opportunities for existing and emerging adjacencies in health care that can further enhance wellness opportunities for the millions of people across the nation with whom the company has relationships.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:
• Annual reports to stockholders
• Securities and Exchange Commission filings
• Most recent investor conference presentations
• Quarterly earnings news releases
• Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
• Calendar of events (including upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
• Corporate Governance information
About Gary Player
Gary Player, often referred to as the Black Knight, symbolizes all that world-class golf is or was ever intended to be. A champion in every sense of the word, he has won 165 professional tournaments worldwide and through the philanthropic efforts of his foundation generated over $50 million dollars for the education of underprivileged children. Player, a master of the game and a world leader in golf course design, is credited with shaping more than 325 courses worldwide.
When Gary Player won the US Open in 1965 at age 29, he became only the third golfer to win the Grand Slam, following Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen. Since then, only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have added their names to this elite group. Player has, to date, won nine major championships on the regular PGA TOUR and nine on the Senior or Champions Tour. He is a three time President’s Cup Captain and in 2000 received South Africa’s Sportsman of the Century Award.
In addition to his 40 years of golf course design, Player currently serves as the Global Ambassador to the World Golf Hall of Fame and holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from St. Andrews University. His legendary career and humanitarian endeavors have been acknowledged through numerous awards, including the 2012 PGA TOUR Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2006 PGA TOUR Payne Stewart Award, and the 2003 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Player has circled the globe in pursuit of sporting events, and after journeying over 15 million miles (or 25 million kilometers) he is widely recognized as The World’s Most Traveled Athlete. When not traveling to or from sporting events, Player divides his time between the South African stud farm, where he has bred more than 2,000 winning thoroughbred racehorses, and his residence on Jupiter Island in Hobe Sound, Fla.
About Black Knight International
Established in 1983 by Marc Player, Black Knight International is a global holding company for The Player Group and the constantly expanding family of Gary Player® brands. With a powerful presence in North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Black Knight is a multicultural and multilingual company offering branded services for the leisure and real estate industries. This rapidly growing firm is diverse and infused with the same tenaciousness and drive as Gary Player, world-renowned iconic golfer. The holding company divisions include: Gary Player Design, Player Real Estate, Black Knight Enterprises, Black Knight Solutions, Black Knight Capital, Gary Player Academies, and The Player Foundation.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health-care company that offers a wide range of insurance products and health and wellness services that incorporate an integrated approach to lifelong well-being. By leveraging the strengths of its core businesses, Humana believes it can better explore opportunities for existing and emerging adjacencies in health care that can further enhance wellness opportunities for the millions of people across the nation with whom the company has relationships.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:
• Annual reports to stockholders
• Securities and Exchange Commission filings
• Most recent investor conference presentations
• Quarterly earnings news releases
• Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
• Calendar of events (including upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
• Corporate Governance information
Contact:
Gary Player Group
Grace Lipscomb-Vine, 864-477-2720
grace@garyplayer.com
Castillo & Ruig Communications
Spencer Castillo, 310.664.8843
scastillo@discovercrc.com
