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PGA TOUR MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 26, 2010

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you everyone for joining us. We issued a press release earlier today confirming that the Heritage will return to the PGA TOUR in 2011, scheduled one week later than it's traditional post-Masters week. This creates a unique situation in that the Heritage will be played the same week as the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf as the Champions Tour in Savannah. To talk about these developments we are pleased to have Rick George, chief of operations of the PGA TOUR; Steve Wilmot, tournament director of the Heritage and Joe Rotellini, executive director of the Legends. Rick?
RICK GEORGE: Thanks, Joel, and want to thank all of you for joining us today, and many of you for your patience, etc. First of all, let me say how pleased we are to confirm the Heritage's return next year to our schedule. The Heritage has a long, proud history on the PGA TOUR and as many of you know is a favorite among the players.
I know there's been plenty of speculation in recent months about the tournament in 2011 and its date and I think today we can put that to rest. And our hope is that we can answer your calls and feel good about where we are today.
I know some of you have been and were pressing for confirmation of this news, but the simple truth is that without a finalized agreement between the PGA TOUR and the Heritage Foundation, neither of us was in a position to provide that.
And that agreement was not finalized until earlier today. I'll also say, that with this announcement, the PGA TOUR continues to work with the Heritage Foundation to work diligently to find a new title sponsor, and I think this gives us more time to do that moving forward.
In regard to the date change, 2011 presents an anomaly in the schedule with an extra week between the Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship. Therefore, there's one less week between THE PLAYERS Championship and the U.S. Open.
Understand that a scheduling change is never a simple exercise, particularly when you're talking to six or seven different entities. There's always a number of factors to consider. To fill the open date in that time frame, we moved, and Valero agreed, to move the Valero Texas Open from May to April, but for a variety of reasons amongst all of the sponsors could not move into the date that we originally proposed.
So the Valero tournament will now go the week after the Masters, and the Heritage slides one week later.
Our intent is for the Heritage to move back to its traditional week after next year, playing the same week as the Legends provides a wealth of golf for the entire coastal area. And while it provides some unique challenges, it also provides some unique synergistic opportunities between the two events.
I'll now turn it over to Steve Wilmot for his comments, and then at the end of this call, we'll take questions.
STEVE WILMOT: Thanks, Rick. We greatly appreciate it. Obviously we are thrilled that we are moving forward with preparations for next year. You know, that was certainly key with us from the beginning. As Rick said, we were waiting for the final signed agreement before we could confirm our dates, which, you know, was finally done this morning, thank goodness.
Playing the same week as the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf is a unique situation but also provides for great opportunities, as well. You know, Joe and I have had many conversations over the last couple weeks and see chances to really cross-market and be creative in promoting what should be a tremendous week for our golf sponsors and the residents and this entire community.
But we feel like our tournaments are unique from one another and certainly tournaments that everyone can enjoy. We are committed to providing the best experience for the area golf fans and we'll continue to drive the local economy and support our charity efforts.
With that, Joe, if you would like to jump on and make a few comments, as well.
JOE ROTELLINI: Thanks, Steve, and I totally agree with what you're saying. This does present some certain challenges, but we have to keep in mind, it's a one-year situation, and that we will both do everything we can to work together to make sure both tournaments are highly successful as they have been.
The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf has had tremendous community support at this event, particularly in the last eight years and we certainly anticipate nothing less in 2011. One thing to consider, too, is I don't know if everybody knows this, both tournaments are on the GOLF CHANNEL and CBS.
So the coastal region will receive tremendous exposure with the back-to-back telecasts. As always, we look forward to another exceptional tournament in 2011.

Q. How close was the Heritage to not getting on the schedule?
RICK GEORGE: Our intent all along has been to host an event at Hilton Head. We have really always in our mind felt like this would be back on the schedule, or would remain on the schedule. And we just had to work through some things with a variety of tournaments, and with this event, and we have successfully completed that this morning.
So we are excited that they are on the schedule but we really didn't look for an additional or some other location to host the event, because we had a lot of confidence in Steve, the Heritage Foundation, and our history in the past with that great tournament in Hilton Head. So we really did not look for another location.

Q. So what impact did the commitments from the town and county have on the TOUR staying in Hilton Head?
RICK GEORGE: Certainly that was significant, and we know how important this event is to the region, and for the community and for them to step up, we felt it was important for them to do that.
However, please know that we have the utmost confidence in Steve and Simon Fraser and the Heritage Foundation. We just had to finalize some of our agreements and it's taken a little longer than any of us would like I think.
But we are in a good place today and we are really now just focused on the next -- I know you are not going to want to hear this, Steve, but the next eight or nine months to make both events, Joe, as successful as we can.
JOE ROTELLINI: No question.

Q. You mentioned the synergistic opportunities and the ways that you can maybe try to play these events together, help each other out. What are some of the things that you have in mind there?
STEVE WILMOT: Well, I'll run with it first if you don't mind, and I'm really speaking for both of us. Because we have talked about from tickets to maybe some kind of fun event between the players; you start thinking of father/son combinations. You think of our past champions across the way. You think of working with the Wives Association.
I joked recently, too, about the fact that it's almost like Tony Stewart, he races in Indianapolis, and in Charlotte, how great would it be if Bob Tway tees up in one place and the other; we know that that's not possible. But no, we are going to look at everything. And certainly a small percentage of our volunteers work both places and our spectators are both and our sponsors are both places. We are going to try to get as creative as we can, and we know it's a one-time thing but let's make the best of it.

Q. What problems do you think it will present when you get to Friday, Saturday, Sunday, when both tournaments are going on at the same time in do you anticipate losing some spectators there?
JOE ROTELLINI: For us, it's too early to really tell. But we'll say we finish quite earlier in the day, so it could be a possibly of somebody wanting to see action in both tournaments, they could come to our tournament in the morning and shoot up to Hilton Head to watch golf later in the day.
STEVE WILMOT: And even that way, we have talked about it from the media side, too. It's tough to cover both, but if they finish early, going back and forth between the two events -- we don't look at it, we just look at it as enhancing an opportunity for spectators that have clubhouse badges or week-long badges and we'll just have to see how it plays out.
RICK GEORGE: Let me, too, just to add we know that this is not an ideal situation for both tournaments, and we know that they are going to be working very closely together, and I commend both Steve and Joe for their willingness to cooperate together to make both events highly successful, and both events historically have been highly successful and we anticipate that they will be.
And as Steve had said, this is a one-year situation. The Heritage will revert back to its old date in 2012 and beyond, and we know Liberty Mutual is a terrific sponsor and has been with the TOUR, gosh, as long as just about any sponsor that we have had in our history.
So we are very sensitive to their needs and what they want their tournament to be. So we appreciate Steve and Joe, what you all have done.
You take it a step, further, too, for everybody, what a wonderful opportunity to have a Champions Tour event and a PGA TOUR event in the same backyard. That doesn't happen anywhere in the world. So that's pretty exciting for this community in the low country and South Carolina and Georgia together.

Q. Steve, first question is, you keep saying that you guys will move back -- or the intention is to move back to your original date in 2012. Is that part of the contract?
RICK GEORGE: No.
STEVE WILMOT: No. Rick just answered, but no, it is not. We are set for -- the agreement that we signed today is for '11, with our understanding, and we'll move forward from there. And obviously the bottom line here, still we need a title sponsor, and that's what our objective is over the next six, eight months.

Q. So you only have a contract for one year?
RICK GEORGE: Correct.

Q. Secondly, Rick, I'm trying to understand, what took so long? What was it hinging on? It seemed like Heritage had a pretty good reserve fund and they had the cooperation of the city and the county, it's been reported at least two or three weeks ago, if not longer; why did it take so long to get this finalized?
RICK GEORGE: There are some other factors that go along with it. You know, as I said, it took us some time to get through some of the issues and those are confidential issues between us and the Heritage Foundation, but it took us some time to get to the point.
And as I said earlier, it was always our intent that they would remain on the schedule, and it's just taken a little more time than any of us would like. But again, we are really focused on moving forward and not in what bogged us down?

Q. I guess the other part is considering you are looking for a title sponsor, everybody seems to readily recognize the fact that this is a difficult situation for both events, but obviously one is looking for a title sponsor, is there no other way to keep them in their date or put them somewhere elsewhere they would have a better chance of showcasing the event without having to compete in another event in their area?
RICK GEORGE: We certainly think they will have a great opportunity to showcase Hilton Head, irregardless of the fact that they have another event with Liberty Mutual in the same area. I think the fact that a sponsor can see the value in entertaining guests at Hilton Head, the beauty from the broadcast, there's a lot positives. I don't think having the date they had plays into that at all.
I'm very confident that both events are going to be successful and again, I know the challenges, and we talked about them a minute ago about presenting events in the same markets. But we still think when you talk to a sponsor, a potential sponsor, the fact remains that beyond 2011, they are going to go back to a traditional date and we think they are going to be very successful in the date they are in in 2011.

Q. One other thing. I guess the newspaper asked, the local newspaper asked about, did you look for another venue. Are you saying you never looked for another event to fill this event at all this year?
RICK GEORGE: Well, we are always -- we are out there always looking for different markets that we may move to, if we have an event that does not come back in our schedule. Did we look at scenarios if we couldn't get this done? Yes. Did we have a particular market in mind? No.
Our intent, as I said earlier why, was to always play the Heritage. We felt confident that we would get this done. And that's kind of where we are.

Q. Steve, we have talked in the past, certainly, about the update and search for a title sponsor, can you give us an overview of how that's going?
STEVE WILMOT: It's still a work-in-progress, fortunately or unfortunately anyway. We are working extremely close with the TOUR and their business development department down there, a gentleman by the name of Dan Gladdys (ph) is selling our events, I probably had about ten phone calls with him this week. We continue to work and we are not just working on '12 and beyond, we are hoping to get somebody in here for 2011.

Q. Steve says the potential exists that we could be going through the same thing next year at this time if there is no title sponsor.
STEVE WILMOT: To a certain degree, yes. But like I said, most important thing where we felt that there's no question that we needed to the TOUR and the TOUR feels very positive about us being on the schedule. They had to look out for the best interests of the membership, being the players, and we had our fiduciary responsibilities to the TOUR, and we have worked through that and agreed and we are on the schedule for 2011. And hopefully we'll be at a point somewhere in the near future being able to secure 2012 and beyond, as well.

Q. Would you elaborate on a few things? What was the original date offered the Texas Open and what were the reservations about that date and how was the decision ultimately reached to swap them with the Masters when you were in pretty active and ongoing negotiations, which sounded like you sounded pretty good about with the Heritage.
RICK GEORGE: Let me just say that there were a lot more discussions than just with Valero and a lot of other tournaments involved, and really, we are appreciative of Valero moving. I think you have got two pretty seasoned vets in Steve Wilmot and Joe Rotellini, my guess is they will write the next chapter on how well something like this can go, having two tournaments in the same market.

Q. Has anybody gotten in their car at the clubhouse in one venue and clocked the mileage to the other one?
STEVE WILMOT: As the crow flies from my office right here, I can almost see Savannah. It takes an hour to go from here to there.

Q. Has anybody ever clocked the exact number? That's okay. This question may be better addressed to Rick. You already schedule it would be impossible for a guy, while eligible for both events to play in both. Is there anything in the competitive regulations that would prevent some crossover on Wednesday, maybe a couple Champions Tour players playing in the Hilton Head Pro-Am or a couple of those guys coming down and playing in the Liberty mutual Pro-Am?
RICK GEORGE: We do have some provision where we don't typically have two professionals in a Pro-Am on the PGA TOUR. I don't think you'll see much of that, Gary. What you say see, and again, we'll let Steve and Joe figure out how they want to utilize that. There may be some ways to integrate the players into some other sponsor functions, but not necessarily the Pro-Am.
As you know, Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf really starts on Monday, with the different competitions they have and, they are trying to shorten that time frame down. But a lot of players are on site at both events, so I'm sure there are some synergies the two can work on as relates to that.
But I don't see where a Champions Tour player and a PGA TOUR player would play in a Pro-Am. However, you could have something early in week that as Steve has said earlier, maybe a Bill Haas and a Jay Haas team, and you get a couple, Craig and Kevin Stadler and things like that, to create some kind of exhibition early in the week that could be a lot of fun. And maybe you do it in the middle of the harbor into between the two events.
Certainly with those two, with the creative minds that they have, I think there are some real possibilities there.

Q. And for Steve and Joe, do you think that there will certainly be some type of ticket package that will get admission to both events?
STEVE WILMOT: We have talked about that. Our ticket prices are different. We already currently allow our volunteers at both events. The important thing was getting this on the schedule and getting going and Joe and his staff and myself and my staff will be getting together and laying it out here soon.
Sorry, Joe, didn't mean to jump in there.
JOE ROTELLINI: We are on the same page.

Q. Joe and Steve, can you both tell me about where the contract statuses are, and where you are in that cycle with TV and the venue contracts and contracts with the TOUR?
JOE ROTELLINI: I can speak for us here in Savannah. Liberty Mutual is contractually committed to be in Savannah for 2011 and 2012. We just negotiated that deal last fall. So we are here for two more years. Liberty has signed on through '13 with an option for '14, as the title sponsor.
STEVE WILMOT: And I know I'm catching up with you guys later today, but you obviously know that we made an announcement today that we are on the schedule for 2011, and you know, that's a part of the network, as well, and the facility use agreement is something that we haven't signed yet, and I can fill you in on greater details this afternoon.

Q. We keep saying that there's an extra week between one and the other. How did that occur? Was that a lot of tournament or a tournament shuffle? Or did the year start earlier than normally?
RICK GEORGE: No. I can answer that. There's actually THE PLAYERS Championship moves back one week.
I appreciate everybody being on the call and I appreciate your patience in this process, and Joe and Steve, I really appreciate what you two have done.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Thank you.

End of FastScripts

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