Bridgestone Expands Global Sports Portfolio With Title Sponsorship Of America's Golf Cup
Inaugural event features PGA TOUR stars competing alongside PGA TOUR Latinoamerica players in Latin America
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridgestone, the world's largest tire and rubber company, announced today an agreement with the PGA TOUR to become title sponsor for the inaugural America's Golf Cup, a team format event featuring members of PGA TOUR Latinoamerica competing alongside PGA TOUR stars such as Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Angel Cabrera and Andres Romero. The inaugural event will take place at the Pilar Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 20-26.
"Having a world-class sponsor like Bridgestone coupled with world-class golfers like Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Angel Cabrera and Andres Romero makes for a world-class event in Latina America," said Lisandro Borges, CEO of the America's Golf Cup. "This will be a unique and unprecedented experience for everyone involved and promises to further develop the game of golf in the region."
The tournament format will be two-man teams playing Four-Ball (Best-Ball) over 72 holes, with a maximum of 36 teams in the field. Six of those teams will be pre-determined by invitation, while the additional 30 teams will come from the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit (OOM).
Woods and Kuchar have committed to represent the United States, while Angel Cabrera and Andres Romero will represent Argentina. No other PGA TOUR members will be invited to compete.
"We are pleased to provide our members with an opportunity to play an event as special as this one. The Bridgestone America's Golf Cup complements the work we currently do in the region in that it will provide PGA TOUR Latinoamerica members an opportunity to prepare for the higher levels of professional golf. This championship will be a wonderful event to help promote our players, our Tour and golf in the region," said Jack Warfield, President of PGA TOUR Latinoamerica.
Offering a purse of $600,000, the America's Golf Cup will be an unofficial money event, with players' earnings not counting towards the OOM and the season-long race for Web.com Tour cards. The cut-off date for PGA TOUR Latinoamerica member qualification will be Oct. 12, following the TransAmerican Power Products CRV Mazatlan Open.
The countries currently eligible to participate at the Bridgestone America's Golf Cup are United States, Peru, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Spain, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and Uruguay. Qualified players will select their partners from the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit.
"We believe the Bridgestone America's Golf Cup will serve as an important platform on which the Latin America region can continue to advance the game of golf and all of its benefits – those that include healthy lifestyles, improved economic development, and world-class attention," said Gabriel Asbun, President of Bridgestone Latin America Tire Division. "More importantly for our company, an event that captures leading athletes and exemplifies top performance is a venue through which we want Latin America to know our leading products ranging from all types of tires to golf and other sporting goods, as well as building products."
Through its title sponsorship in the America's Golf Cup, Bridgestone is reinforcing its commitment to sports and renowned events at a global level. The company serves as the title sponsor for Copa Bridgestone Libertadores, South America's premier international club soccer tournament. Bridgestone also has strong ties to the golf community as the Official Tire of the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour through 2018, while Bridgestone Golf, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Sports Co. Ltd., manufactures premium golf balls, clubs and accessories for golfers around the world. Bridgestone is represented on the golf course by a number of internationally famed golfers including, Fred Couples, Matt Kuchar, Davis Love III, Nick Price, Brandt Snedeker, Karrie Webb and Paula Creamer. Bridgestone Golf, the number one ball fitter in golf, is also the industry leader in live launch monitor fittings.
The announcement comes on the heels of the ninth annual World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational which was held July 31-Aug. 3 at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Bridgestone first began sponsoring the WGC - Bridgestone Invitational in 2006, and the current title sponsorship agreement runs through 2018.
Each of these platforms provides an opportunity for Bridgestone to extend its mission of "Serving Society with Superior Quality" to a distinguished consumer demographic who can correlate high-performance tire technology to the high-quality products they're familiar with on the golf course.
About Bridgestone Americas, Inc.:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM) is the U.S. subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world's largest tire and rubber company. BSAM and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The BSAM family of companies also operates the world's largest chain of automotive tire and service centers. Guided by its One Team, One Planet message, the company is dedicated to achieving a positive environmental impact in all of the communities it calls home.
About Latin American Tire division, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:
Bridgestone Americas maintains an established and strong presence in Latin America through the subsidiaries that make up the Latin American Tire division (BATO LA), which is part of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. BATO LA, through seven manufacturing and sales subsidiaries, operates six tire production plants — two in Brazil, and one each in Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico and Venezuela — along with proving grounds in Acuna, Mexico, and Sao Pedro, Brazil. In addition, through Bandag do Brazil Ltda. and Bandag de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., the companies manufacture and market pre-cure retread for truck and bus tires.
About the America's Golf Cup:
America's Cup Golf is an event created to further develop golf in the region. The AGC will be played every year in different countries in Latin America and will feature several of the best players of the world. The inaugural event features the return of Tiger Woods to Argentina after his victory in the 2000 World Cup played at Buenos Aires Golf Club. Along with Woods, Matt Kuchar, one of the top players in the world, will form the U.S. team while Angel Cabrera and Andres Romero will serve as representatives for Argentina.
The America's Golf Cup will be held under the four ball mode (best ball), during the four days of competition and will include a maximum of 36 teams from different countries.
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 Latinoamerica, 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.
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SOURCE Bridgestone Americas, Inc.
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