ROGERS, AR – Tournament officials for the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons have announced the commitment of LPGA Tour professional Suzann Pettersen to the second year event at Pinnacle Country Club. The Tournament will be held July 4 – 6, as golfers compete for a share of the $1.7 million purse.
Pettersen’s commitment solidifies an already competitive field with seven out of the top-10 Official Money List winners in 2008.
Tournament Chairman Jay Allen added, “Suzann's decision to play here further underscores our strengthened field this year, and the fact that LPGA players are taking notice of our event.”
Pettersen is currently ranked third in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She has earned four top-10 finishes, including second-place finishes at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and last week’s Wegmans LPGA. Pettersen surpassed the $3 million mark in LPGA Official Career Earnings with her third place finish at the Ginn Open and a $150,362 payday. She is currently ranked seventh on the Official Money List with $668,650.
Petterson, a five-time LPGA Tour winner, was named the Norwegian Female Athlete of the Year after her break-out year on the LPGA Tour in 2007. She earned more than $1.7 million in season earnings and finished second on last year’s LPGA Official Money List. She was also runner-up in the Rolex Player of the Year race. Her win at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill made her a Rolex First-Time Winner after overcoming a four-stroke, 54-hole deficit to defeat Jee Young Lee in a three-hole, sudden-death playoff. Pettersen recorded her first LPGA major championship victory at the 2007 McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
The Norwegian blonde is known as one of the longest drivers on Tour. She is currently ranked seventh in average driving distance at over 266 yards per drive. She is also ranked fifth in greens in regulation, hitting them 73% of the time.
For more information on the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship, please visit www.PGBeautyChampionship.com.
About Procter & Gamble
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pantene®, Olay®, Cover Girl®, Venus®, Max Factor®, Pampers®, Tide®, Always®, Herbal Essences®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Gain®, Pringles®, Folgers®, Charmin®, Downy®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Actonel®, Duracell®, Head & Shoulders®, Gillette®, PUR®, and Braun®. The P&G community consists of 138,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.
About John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC
Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, LLC is the nation's leading independent builder, developer, owner and manager of upscale, full-service hotels, resorts and suites, including: Embassy Suites Hotels, Renaissance, Marriott, Radisson, Residence Inn, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Holiday Inn and Courtyard by Marriott brands. With 62 hotels strategically located near demand generators, such as state capitals, universities, airports, corporate headquarters or office parks in secondary and tertiary markets, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts' properties are dominant in their markets. Over the course of his impressive career in the hotel business, Mr. Hammons has developed 164 hotels. For more information, visit www.jqh.com.
About the Ladies Professional Golf Association
As the longest-running women’s professional sports organization in the world, the LPGA features a membership comprised of world-class LPGA Tour professionals and dedicated Teaching and Club Professionals (T&CP). Today’s LPGA Tour features the most talented global sampling of professional athletes competing in 36 events on six continents with total prize money of more than $62 million. In addition to its dynamic Tour members, nearly 1,200 certified T&CP members serve the golf industry in teaching, coaching and management positions, and oversee programs aimed at increasing the involvement of women, girls and youth in golf. The not-for-profit LPGA’s Vision is to inspire, empower, educate and entertain by showcasing the best golf professionals in the world. Its Mission is to be a leader in the world of sports, to promote economic empowerment for all members, and to serve as role models on and off the course. The LPGA is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Fla. For more information on the LPGA, log on to www.LPGA.com.
About the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons
The P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons is an official event on the LPGA Tour. The Tournament is owned and operated by Octagon and hosted at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, AR. Additional Tournament partners include Wal-Mart, MARS Snackfood US, Budget and Sara Lee.
About Octagon
Octagon is the world’s largest sports and entertainment representation and marketing agency with global expertise in consulting, athletes & personalities, event management, property representation, marketing solutions, licensing and merchandising and talent procurement. As part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), one of the world’s leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services, Octagon employs more than 1,000 people in 60 offices around the world. Octagon’s Golf Division manages two Champions Tour events, three LPGA Tour events and one Nationwide Tour event. Additionally, Octagon’s Golf Division represents many of golf’s top professionals including Grace Park, Christina Kim and Beth Daniel, and the marketing rights to brothers, Bobby and Lanny Wadkins.
