Turning Stone announces first player commitments

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Verona, N.Y. -- The Turning Stone Resort Championship announced on September 9 the first player commitments and sponsor exemptions for the PGA TOUR Fall Series tournament September 29 - October 5 at Turning Stone's Atunyote Golf Club. Notah Begay III, Olin Browne, Joey Sindelar and the PGA of America's Central New York Section Champion, Jeff Reader, have been invited to play in the tournament as sponsor's exemptions.

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Begay has won four times on the PGA TOUR.

The Turning Stone Resort Championship will feature a field of 132 players competing for a $6 million purse with $1.08 million going to the winner. The winning purse is the largest among the seven PGA TOUR Fall Series tournament and only five non-championship tournaments during the regular season offer larger purses. The field currently features 27 players who've collectively won 80 PGA TOUR events including three major championships, six players in the top 50 on the current money list and five players who won in 2008 for the first time.

Notah Begay III is the most successful Native American on the PGA TOUR with four career victories. An ambassador for the Turning Stone Resort, Begay recently hosted the inaugural Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Atunyote Golf Club that raised $180,000 for Native American youth programs his foundation supports.

A native of Horseheads, N.Y., Joey Sindelar is a seven-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including two B.C. Opens. Sindelar is currently competing in his rookie season on the Champions Tour and has five top-10s, including a third place finish to his credit.

"I am completely thrilled to be invited to play in the Turning Stone Resort Championship," Sindelar said. "It's awesome that the leading tournament of the PGA TOUR's Fall Series is held in Central New York and that I can compete in front of the people who cheered me on my whole career."

Olin Browne is a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, with his last victory occuring in 2005 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. In early August, Browne was chosen by Paul Azinger as one of his three Captain's Assistants for the 2008 Ryder Cup.

"I'm honored to be invited to play in the Turning Stone Resort Championship," said Browne. "The resort is a magnificent complex and the course is one of the best conditioned we play all year. I'm glad for the opportunity to come back because the course is a pleasure to play."

Begay, Sindelar and Browne all competed in the 2007 Turning Stone Resort Championship.