Mayakoba Golf Classic champs return to celebrate

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PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mèxico -- Four special guests will be in town November 16 as the Mayakoba Golf Classic prepares to celebrate the fifth year as Mexico's only PGA TOUR event.

Each of the tournament's champions will be on-site and will compete in a nine-hole Skins Match at El Camaleón Golf Club. All of the money earned by each Mayakoba Golf Classic champion will be donated to tournament charities.

"It is extremely rare for a tournament to be able to host all of its champions for a special event such as this," said Larson Segerdahl, Tournament Director. "Winning here had a special meaning for each of our champions and we are not only grateful but excited they all agreed to participate in a special charity event and help us celebrate our fifth year."

Fred Funk won the inaugural Mayakoba Golf Classic in 2007, his rookie year on the Champions Tour. Funk won on both Tours that year and became only the second player in history to do so.

A year later, Brian Gay captured the title in his 293rd start on the PGA TOUR. It was his first career victory and sparked two more wins during the 2009 season and a two-year stretch in which he won over $5.4 million.

Year three at the Mayakoba Golf Classic brought another emotional victory when Mark Wilson was crowned the champion. Wilson's win in Mexico was nearly two years to the date since his first career victory on TOUR. It also sparked one of the best seasons of his career as he accumulated nine top-25 finishes in 2009.

Earlier this year, Cameron Beckman became the fourth champion of the February event. For Beckman it was the third victory of his career and ironically he trailed by three strokes heading into the final round in all three of his victories.

In its first four years, the Mayakoba Golf Classic has donated over $970,000 (USD) in an effort to give back to the community through various community support groups and promote the game of golf within the Cancun and Riviera Maya regions. Organizations receiving charitable contributions from the Mayakoba Golf Classic included the American Junior Golf Association, Angel Notion, Centro Equinoterapia, Centro Integracion Juvenil, CINDAQ, City of Joy Foundation (Ciudad de la Alegria), Red Cross of Playa del Carmen, DIF, Flora Fauna y Cultura, Foundation Bomberos de la Riviera Maya, Lorena Ochoa Foundation, Malix-Pek Pet Shelter, Rotary Clubs of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, CRIT Quintana Roo, Un Hogar Con Amor and Golf PARa Todos.

One of the programs the Mayakoba Golf Classic has created for the immediate area surrounding the Mayakoba Resort is Golf PARa Todos (Golf FORE Everyone). This has been a tremendous success with attendance soaring near 1,000 each session.

Golf FORE Everyone aims to create a fun-filled, diverse and educational program that teaches about the game of golf and its ideals. The program encourages active participation in the game as a participant and as a fan, and facilitates the integration of golf into the lives of all those within the community. Golf FORE Everyone is a monthly community program presented and created by the Mayakoba Golf Classic in conjunction with El Camaleón Golf Club. It is open to people of all ages, backgrounds and levels of golf skill or knowledge. For more information, visit www.GolfParaTodos.org.

Charity is a fundamental part of the fabric of the PGA TOUR. "Together, anything's possible" is the PGA TOUR's umbrella platform that tells the story of the TOUR's stakeholders -- players, tournaments and sponsors, volunteers, charities and fans, and how their collective efforts are having a tremendous impact on communities throughout the world. For more information visit http://together.pgatour.com/.