LA QUINTA, CA - Bill Haas, author of perhaps the shot of the year on the PGA TOUR -- a shot that helped earn him the 2011 FedExCup title - is the first headliner to commit to the 2012 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation.
"The commitment of Bill Haas is a major jump-start for the 2012 Humana Challenge," said Larry Thiel, tournament chairman. "We look forward with great anticipation to announcing other significant player and celebrity commitments in the weeks ahead."
Haas, who captured the 2010 Humana Challenge (formerly the Bob Hope Classic) for his first PGA TOUR victory, proved his stellar play was no fluke. This year, he fell just short of defending his crown, falling in a playoff with eventual winner Jhonattan Vegas and co-runner-up Gary Woodland. Illustrating the strength of the Humana Challenge field, all three playoff participants went on win 2011 titles on the PGA TOUR - three of the 23 victories earned by alumni of the 2011 Humana Challenge.
Woodland's turn for victory came two months later at the Transitions Championship in Tampa. Haas' chance would come at the season-ending TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, and in dramatic fashion. Holding the lead going into the final stretch, Haas bogeyed two of his last three holes on the demanding East Lake Golf Club to bring Hunter Mahan into a sudden-death, playoff, with the winner not only collecting the $1.44 million first prize, but the $10 million FedExCup bonus.
On the second playoff hole, Haas pushed his drive into a fairway bunker. His approach appeared near-miraculous but bounced over the green and rolled into the lake left of the green. Mahan, meanwhile, played connect-the-dots: fairway to green to 25 feet.
When he arrived at the water hazard, Haas discovered his ball was still playable but with a quarter of it under water. In the NBC announcer booth, commentator Johnny Miller gave Haas "about a 1 in 10 chance of getting this within 15 feet."
Instead, Haas saved the miraculous for his third shot. He opened up the face of his sand wedge and splashed the ball to 30 inches, pulling off what many observers called the shot of the year. He tapped in for par to halve the hole, and then sealed the victory with a par on the third extra hole to become the first player in his 20's to win the FedExCup.
"It was an all-or-nothing shot. If I don't pull it off, I'm shaking Hunter's hand," Haas said about a shot that effectively earned him $11.44 million - or nearly as much as his father, Jay, earned in a PGA TOUR career that featured nine titles, including the 1988 Bob Hope Classic. Jay and Bill are the only father/son champions of the same event in PGA TOUR history.
The TOUR Championship victory, one Haas produced by becoming only the fifth player to shoot all four rounds in the 60's at East Lake, capped a year in which, on top of the FedExCup title, the younger Haas earned $4,088,637 (seventh on the money list) and had seven top-10 finishes - including that victory and playoff defeats at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic and Greenbrier Classic. He defined those stats by finishing second in draining putts inside of 5 feet (making 97.93% of his putts inside that distance) and eighth in greens-in-regulation (69.44%).
Further defining Haas' marvelous season is a trip to Australia as a member of the United States Presidents Cup Team. A captain's selection by U.S. Captain Fred Couples (1998 Bob Hope Classic champion), Haas will make his first professional team appearance during the biannual competition Nov. 14-16 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Jay Haas is serving as the assistant captain.
"It is a very special thing. It's something that I've worked for, kind of set as a goal from the beginning of the year," Bill said. "And for it to happen like this is awesome."
Humana Challenge tickets, beginning as low as $20, volunteer information and registration, and an assortment of tournament information can now be obtained through the PGA TOUR golf event's brand-new website at www.HumanaChallenge.com.
The Humana Challenge features a field of 144 PGA TOUR professionals and 144 amateurs, including celebrities. The first three rounds of the four-day tournament will be played in a pro-am format, with the pro-am teams consisting of one professional and one amateur playing in groups of four. Round four will feature professionals only. Tournament week is designed to bring the idea of "participatory wellness" to life for people of all ages and will feature a first-ever national conference focused on health and well-being on Tuesday, Jan. 17, highlighted by a keynote address from President William J. Clinton. Additional pro-ams will be held Monday and Wednesday of tournament week. The tournament also will honor and celebrate the legacy of Bob Hope. The defending champion is Jhonattan Vegas. Live and replay tournament coverage will air on Golf Channel. For tickets and information, call 1-888-672-4673 or visit www.humanachallenge.com
During the past 52 years, Desert Classic Charities has distributed more than $50 million in donations to charities throughout the Coachella Valley, primarily the Eisenhower Media Center. The funds were raised from the annual Bob Hope Classic (now the Humana Challenge) PGA TOUR event.
About Humana Inc.
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation's largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.2 million medical members, 7.1 million specialty members, and operates more than 300 medical centers and 240 worksite medical facilities. Humana is a full-service benefits and well-being solutions company, offering a wide array of health, pharmacy and supplemental benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals, as well as primary and workplace care through its medical centers and worksite medical facilities.
Over its 50-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.
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 the William J. Clinton Foundation
Building on a lifetime of public service, President Bill Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to alleviate poverty, improve global health, strengthen economies, and protect the environment, by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens - leveraging their expertise, resources, and passions - to turn good intentions into measurable results.
To accomplish its goals, the Clinton Foundation has established separate initiatives, each with a distinct mission but all reflecting President Clinton's founding vision: to implement sustainable programs that improve access worldwide to investment, opportunity, and lifesaving services now and for future generations. Working in diverse geographic regions and responding to local needs, the initiatives address targeted challenges in the Foundation's key areas of focus: economic empowerment, education, environment and energy, health systems, and nutrition.
The Clinton Global Initiative brings together a community of leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing issues. Through strategic organization and investment, the Clinton Foundation strives to change global systems, entire communities, and the way business is done in both developed and developing countries - while emphasizing solutions that make meaningful and positive changes in individual lives. For more information, visit www.clintonfoundation.org.
About_Desert_Classic_Charities Desert Classic Charities is dedicated to serving human needs in the Coachella Valley with funds generated by operating the tournament, one of the premier celebrity pro-am golf events in the world. The primary charitable recipient has been the Eisenhower Medical Center.
About PGA TOUR
The PGA TOUR is the world's premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning more than 100 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. 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 communities in which it plays, and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players.
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