Matt Kuchar joins FedExCup champion Billy Horschel and two-time champion Phil Mickelson among world’s top 14; Sponsor exemptions include California college standouts Patrick Rodgers and Brandon Hagy
LA QUINTA, Calif. – It’s always one of the best-kept secrets in golf that the field for the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation tends to be a springboard to future success on the PGA TOUR. With the announcement that nine of the world’s top 30 players are committed to this year’s event, that secret is becoming less of one.
The recent commitment of Matt Kuchar, 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking and the highest-ranked player in the Humana Challenge field to date, means that this year’s field features three of the world’s top 14 golfers. Kuchar joins reigning FedExCup champion Billy Horschel and two-time event champion Phil Mickelson (2002, 2004) in the field. He also joins major championship winners Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Stewart Cink, Lucas Glover, Retief Goosen, David Toms, Lee Janzen, past event champions Mickelson, Mark Brooks (1996), Mike Weir (2003) and Justin Leonard (2005), and sponsor exemption John Daly in the Humana Challenge field.
The tournament, now in its 56th year and annually the PGA TOUR’s first West Coast Swing event of the new year, returns to La Quinta Jan. 19-25. The 72-hole event features 156 professionals playing at the Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA WEST, the Jack Nicklaus Private Course at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club.
The field goes deeper than just the venerable pros. Among the sponsor exemptions announced today are two players with California ties and pronounced collegiate pedigrees: Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers and Cal Berkeley’s Brandon Hagy. They join fan favorites Daly and Southern California native Jason Gore, La Quinta resident and longtime TOUR mainstay Scott McCarron, Brett Quigley and 2007 Humana Challenge runner-up John Rollins among the sponsor exemptions.
Rodgers rewrote the Stanford record book formerly authored by Tiger Woods, finishing in the top 10 in 25 of his 35 collegiate events, winning 11 times and establishing the lowest career scoring average (70.31) and lowest season scoring average (69.41 in 2013-14) in school history. He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top NCAA Division I collegiate golfer and the Ben Hogan Award as the nation’s finest collegiate golfer. He debuted at last fall’s OHL Mayakoba Classic and finished T37.
Hagy, a two-time All-American and Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, should be a fan favorite because of his prodigious length off the tee – Humana Challenge Executive Director/CEO Bob Marra said Hagy routinely drives the ball upward of 360 yards. Hagy, who hails from Westlake Village, was considered by Cal Berkeley coach Steve Desimone as one of the best golfers to ever come out of the program.
More local flavor comes with the inclusion of Cathedral City High graduate Byron Smith and former La Quinta resident Troy Kelly.
“This is one of the strongest fields the Humana Challenge has ever had , but what stands out about it most is the variety of talented golfers who make up the field,” Marra said. “We have bombers, we have sharp shooters, we have young guns and we have some of the most popular veterans. It is always fascinating to see this diverse style of players take on our great courses that are in pristine condition. And it will be fascinating to see what young players like Patrick and Brandon can do playing here for the first time.”
It will be fascinating for fans to see what players like Kuchar and Mickelson, who return to the Humana Challenge after taking 2014 off, and Horschel will do against fellow top-30 players Zach Johnson (No. 19), Chris Kirk (No. 20), defending champion Patrick Reed (No. 23), Kevin Na (No. 25), Bradley (No. 29) and Ryan Moore (No. 30). All the styles Marra referred to are found in these players.
The inclusion of Horschel, 2010 Humana Challenge champion Bill Haas and Brandt Snedeker, gives the Humana Challenge three of the last four FedExCup champions. All three are very fond of playing the Humana Challenge; Haas hasn’t missed a year since turning pro in 2005, Snedeker has three top-25s in his six appearances and Horschel has finished T10 and T25 the last two years.
“I love playing the Humana event,” Horschel said. “La Quinta is such a beautiful place and it’s a beautiful time of year to be out there. So when I get out there, it’s just a nice exciting feeling to be in such a cool area, with the mountains around and the golf courses always in perfect condition.
“I think that they have improved the (tournament) to something now that the guys love being a part of,” added Horschel.
There are a host of Humana Challenge ticket plans that will allow fans to see this varied and exciting field up close. Tickets are available at Lumpy’s in La Quinta (46630 Washington Street) and Rancho Mirage (72769 Dinah Shore Drive) and PGA TOUR Superstore (72280 Highway 111, Suite 110, Palm Desert).
The following ticket specials can be purchased at www.humanachallenge.com through Jan. 18:
– Daily Grounds Ticket, allowing grounds access to any course for any tournament round, Thursday-Sunday, is $30 (25% off the gate price of $40).
– Full Week Grounds Badge, allowing grounds access to any course Wed.-Sun., is $90 (25% off the gate price of $120).
– Club 17 Membership, allowing grounds access to any course and access to Club 17 – an upgraded, exclusive spectator venue located at the 17th green of the Arnold Palmer Private Course and which features big-screen TVs, food and beverage service for purchase, and a cash bar – from Thurs.-Sun., is $250 for a Single membership and $450 for a Twosome. Tickets to this popular venue are nearly sold out.
– Bob Hope Club, allows access to the ultimate in golf luxury and access. Individual memberships give you access to our exclusive, yet relaxed, Bob Hope Club on the 18th green of the Palmer Private Course at PGA WEST. Membership includes breakfast, lunch buffet, afternoon snacks and a premier bar – all catered by Wally’s Desert Turtle. Through Jan. 18, weekend memberships that allow access Saturday, Jan. 24 and Sunday, Jan. 25 are $600 (marked down from $650). Full-week memberships are $900 (marked down from $950).
– Senior Ticket (age 56 and older; must show valid ID) is $25 for any one day from Friday, Jan. 23-Sunday, Jan. 25. Special Seniors’ Day tickets for Thursday, Jan. 22 may be purchased online only for $20.
– Wednesday Grounds Ticket (for professional practice rounds) is $15.
Since 1960, Desert Classic Charities, the non-profit entity that organizes the Humana Challenge, has donated more than $56 million to a wide range of Coachella Valley charitable organizations and Eisenhower Medical Center. This past year, the Humana Challenge donated $800,000 to 39 local charities.
About Humana
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The company’s strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change, proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people Humana serves across the country.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com.
About the Clinton Foundation
The Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation convenes businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for women and girls, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.
Because of our work, 26,000 American schools are providing kids with healthy food choices in an effort to eradicate childhood obesity; 36,000 farmers in Malawi have improved their incomes by more than 500 percent; 248 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are being reduced in cities worldwide; more than 5,000 people have been trained in marketable job skills in Colombia; 8.2 million people have access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS medications; $200 million in strategic investments have been made, impacting the health of 75 million people in the U.S.; and members of the Clinton Global Initiative have made nearly 3,100 Commitments to Action to improve more than 430 million lives around the world.
Learn more at http://www.clintonfoundation.org, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation and on Twitter @ClintonFdn.
About_Desert_Classic_Charities
Since its inception, Desert Classic Charities, the charitable entity that organizes the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation, has contributed more than $56 million to a wide range of Coachella Valley charitable organizations and Eisenhower Medical Center. The scope of giving is broad and includes support for structured and mentoring programs for children, social services, and food and safe shelter for the less fortunate. Desert Classic Charities is dedicated to continuing its mission to serve human needs in the Coachella Valley and beyond by generating funds and opportunities every year through the Humana Challenge.
About PGA TOUR
The PGA TOUR is the world’s premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Web.com Tour, NEC Series-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR China.
The PGA TOUR’s mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in the communities in which it plays, and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players.
Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to more than 1 billion households in 225 countries and territories in 32 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2013, tournaments across all Tours generated more than $134 million for local and national charitable organizations and in early 2014 the TOUR’s all-time charitable contributions surpassed $2 billion.
The PGA TOUR’s web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.
Contact:
Brian Robin
Jan. 12, 2015 (818) 462-5610
Bob Marra
(760) 861-4242
