BMW Extends Title Sponsorship of BMW Championship through 2019.

5-year agreement continues support of the Western Golf Association and Evans Scholars Foundation.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. (May 27, 2014) – BMW of North America, the PGA TOUR and Western Golf Association (WGA) today announced that BMW’s commitment as title sponsor of the BMW Championship has been extended by five years, through 2019.

BMW has sponsored the tournament since 2007 when it became the third of four Playoff events with the introduction of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs. During the term of the extension, BMW will continue to serve as the “Official Vehicle” of The Barclays and TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, the first and final FedExCup Playoff events, respectively.

This year’s BMW Championship will be contested Sept. 4-7 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colo.

“Since becoming title sponsor of this historic tournament, BMW not only has been committed to elevating the stature of the BMW Championship as a Playoff event, but also to supporting the WGA and the Evans Scholars Foundation,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said. “BMW has been a terrific partner of both the PGA TOUR and WGA, and we very much look forward to continuing this collaboration over the next five years.”

The BMW Championship was named the PGA TOUR’s Tournament of the Year in 2012 and 2013 and includes an impressive list of champions, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas and defending champion, Zach Johnson.

“On behalf of the players, I would like to sincerely thank BMW for its continued support of this great event,” Johnson said. “The BMW Championship is extremely important to us in determining the eventual FedExCup champion and BMW does a tremendous job with the event. On a personal note, I’m obviously thrilled to have won the BMW Championship last year at Conway Farms and hope to have the opportunity to defend in September at Cherry Hills."

All net proceeds from the BMW Championship conducted by the WGA benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, which grants full college scholarships to deserving young caddies. Since BMW became title sponsor in 2007, the tournament has contributed more than $16 million to the Evans Scholars Foundation.

“BMW has gone above and beyond our expectations as a partner in the ongoing support of our Evans Scholars Program,” said WGA President & CEO John Kaczkowski. “Thanks to BMW’s generosity, we’ve been able to send many more deserving golf caddies to college. We’re committed to working with BMW in the years ahead to add to the BMW Championship’s reputation as a leader on the PGA TOUR. And we’re looking forward to supporting more caddies thanks to this extension of our partnership with BMW and the PGA TOUR.”

This extension reaffirms BMW’s continued global support of golf and follows the recent announcement of the extension of its partnership with the European Tour through 2018 to continue BMW's entitlement of three premier events – the BMW International Open in Germany, the BMW Masters in China, and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

“As a supporter of golf globally for the past 25 years, we are very excited to extend our partnership with the PGA TOUR and Western Golf Association,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America.  “Not only does the BMW Championship provide us the opportunity to connect with our network of owners, dealers and golf fans across the U.S., but also continues our support of the Evans Scholars Foundation and help the WGA in its drive to send 1,000 caddies to college annually by 2020.”

The BMW Championship dates back to 1899 when it debuted as the Western Open, making it the third-oldest tournament on the PGA TOUR schedule, behind only the British Open and U.S. Open. Once it became the penultimate Playoff event, the tournament converted from a full field event to a field of 70 players to determine the final 30 players for the FedExCup finale at the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola in Atlanta.

BMW Group In America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 139 BMW motorcycle retailers, 119 MINI passenger car dealers, and 35 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists online at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com.  

About Western Golf Association

Founded in 1899, the Western Golf Association conducts championships for professional and amateur golfers, promotes the use of caddies, and oversees the Evans Scholars Foundation, which awards college scholarships to caddies with limited financial means.

The WGA conducts two amateur championships, the Western Junior and the Western Amateur, and the BMW Championship, the third of four PGA TOUR Playoff events in the TOUR's FedExCup competition. The WGA also conducts the Hotel Fitness Championship on the Web.com Tour. For more information visit www.wgaesf.org.

Evans Scholars Foundation

The WGA champions education through golf by sponsoring the Evans Scholars Program, the sole charitable beneficiary of the BMW Championship. Established by famed amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans, Jr., the program provides full housing and tuition scholarships to deserving caddies across the country. Currently, 840 caddies are attending college on Evans Scholarships and there are over 9,800 Evans Alumni.  The WGA’s Board of Governors has set a goal of having 1,000 Evans Scholars enrolled in college annually by 2020. The Evans Program is funded by contributions from more than 26,000 donors across the country, including many Evans Alumni, and by proceeds from the BMW Championship.

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.

Media Contacts:

Chris Smith                                       Gary Holaway

PGA TOUR                                       Western Golf Association

904-273-3379                                 847-724-4600, ext. 3724

csmith@pgatourhq.com                   holaway@wgaesf.org

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