January 14, 2006
Justin Leonard Hoping to Ride Current String of Positive Karma into Bob Hope Classic,
Jan. 16-22
Palm Desert, Calif. - Less than two weeks after his beloved University of Texas put a halt to an attempted championship three-peat in college football, Longhorns alum Justin Leonard returns to the Coachella Valley with designs on a repeat of his own.
Leonard is set to defend his title at the 47th Bob Hope Classic, Jan. 16-22, against 127 of the world's elite golfers. The Classic is the third event of the 2006 PGA TOUR season and the first on the U.S. mainland.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to the Bob Hope Classic," Leonard said in a conference call Jan. 3, the day before Texas defeated USC, 41-38, in the Rose Bowl to win the Bowl Championship Series' title game. "I've defended well in some tournaments in the past. I won back-to-back Texas Opens a couple years ago. And other times I haven't played so well in my title defenses. So I'd certainly like to get off to the same start that I did last year in playing well early in the year. I can't think of a better place to do that than at the Hope." The five-day, 90-hole tournament features a $5 million purse with $900,000 to the winner, and is hosted for the first time by the Classic Club, a 250-acre course along Cook Street that has inspired this year's tournament theme, "The Classic is Cookin.'" The Classic Club, which will stage Sunday's final round, is joined in the tournament rotation by Bermuda Dunes Country Club, La Quinta Country Club and the Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA West.
Leonard, the Dallas native who is third on the Classic's all-time money list ($1,115,595), will hook horns with such professionals as Phil Mickelson, Olin Browne, Bart Bryant, Mark Calcavecchia, Chad Campbell, Tim Clark, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crane, Brad Faxon, Keith Fergus, Fred Funk, Robert Gamez, Lucas Glover, Jason Gore, Donnie Hammond, Tim Herron, Brandt Jobe, Steve Jones, Davis Love III, Billy Mayfair, Rod Pampling, Tim Petrovic, Carl Pettersson, Ted Purdy, Wes Short, Jr., Heath Slocum, Vaughn Taylor, Scott Verplank and Mike Weir. Other Southern California favorites include Mark O'Meara, Corey Pavin and Duffy Waldorf.
Mickelson won four tournaments in 2005, including the PGA Championship, finished third overall on the TOUR money list last year, won the 2002 and 2004 Classics, and is the Bob Hope Classic's all-time money leader with $1,831,861.
Browne, Bryant, Calcavecchia, Crane, Faxon, Funk, Gamez, Glover, Gore, Leonard, Petrovic, Pettersson, Purdy, Short, Slocum and Taylor won on the TOUR in 2005. Cook, Fergus, Jones, Hammond and Weir also are past Bob Hope Classic champions.
Another side of the Classic's glitzy appeal is displayed through its four-day, 72-hole pro-am, which features more than 30 sports and entertainment celebrities.
Headlining this year's celebrity list are: Marcus Allen, Anthony Anderson, Yogi Berra, Michael Bolton, Glen Campbell, Roger Clemens, Alice Cooper, Carson Daly, Tom Dreesen, Mike Eruzione, Marshall Faulk, Samuel L. Jackson, Rush Limbaugh, George Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Mark Mulder, Craig T. Nelson, Shawn Parr, Maury Povich, Ahmad Rashad, Darius Rucker, Burt Rutan, Sterling Sharpe, Justin Timberlake, Mark Wahlberg and Adrian Young.
"This is our strongest celebrity field ever," said Classic president Steve Morton. "With Matthew (McConaughey) and Rush (Limbaugh) joining players like Justin Timberlake, Samuel L. Jackson and George Lopez, along with sports legends like Yogi Berra and Roger Clemens, there are truly celebrities which span the spectrum for spectators."
The celebrity field's schedule is as follows: Wednesday, Jan. 18, Bermuda Dunes Country Club; Thursday, Jan. 19, La Quinta Country Club; Friday, Jan. 20, Arnold Palmer Private Course at PGA WEST; Saturday, Jan. 21, Classic Club.
Tickets and further details are available at www.bhcc.com or by calling 1.888.MRBHOPE (672.4673), and are priced at only $25 per day, with several packages offering additional savings. Those with tickets from any day of the tournament will also be able to use them for a $25 discount on a round of golf at the Classic Club when it opens for public play on Jan. 26. Tee times may be reserved by calling 760-601-3600.
Since its inception in 1960, the BHCC has donated nearly $42 million to local non-profit organizations including Eisenhower Medical Center, Shelter from the Storm and The Boys & Girls Clubs.
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