Aaron Rodgers, DeMarcus Ware Commit to Play in ClubCorp Classic at Las Colinas

IRVING, Texas, Feb. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Super Bowl Champion Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers superstar quarterback and leading candidate for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award, has committed to play in the inaugural ClubCorp Classic presented by Choctaw Casinos & Resorts, the PGA TOUR Champions/Celebrity golf tournament at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, this April.

Dallas Cowboys longtime defensive standout DeMarcus Ware is also officially in the field for the April 19-24 competition, which will benefit Momentous Institute, a North Texas nonprofit dedicated to building and repairing social and emotional health so that all children can achieve their full potential.

Rodgers and Ware will be among 50 celebrities competing alongside 78 PGA TOUR Champions in the $2.5 million event. The tournament features the PGA TOUR Champions professionals playing 54 holes for a purse of $2 million, along with the celebrities playing for a separate, $500,000 purse. Tournament competition days of Friday – Sunday, April 22-24, will be open to the public with tickets and hospitality packages available later this month. Information on tickets and hospitality can be obtained at www.clubcorpclassic.com by clicking on the green “Tickets” button on the homepage.

Rodgers is among the favorites to be named NFL Most Valuable Player tomorrow night, when the Associated Press award is presented during NFL Honors, the primetime TV special that recognizes the NFL's best players, performances and plays from the 2021 season. He has already won the Pro Football Writers of America MVP Award, among others.  

Ware, the two-time Butkus Award winner and nine-time Pro Bowl honoree, played defensive end for the Cowboys from 2005-13 and is the franchise’s all-time leader in quarterback sacks (117). He won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos following the 2015 season and in December, was named a finalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He is in his first year of eligibility and will learn tomorrow if he is selected for enshrinement, also during the NFL Honors broadcast on ABC.

In July, Ware played in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe for the fourth time. Rodgers is a regular at Lake Tahoe, finishing eighth in the 2020 tournament.

British Open Champion Mark Calcavecchia and seven-time tournament winner Billy Andrade are among the confirmed participants on the PGA TOUR Champions side with many of the most prominent names expected because the event is an official Charles Schwab Cup season-long bonus pool competition.

All three competition rounds of the event will be televised live on GOLF Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions.

Other celebrities confirmed to compete include World Golf Hall of Fame member and 72-time LPGA winner Annika Sörenstam, 11-time MLB All-Star Pitcher Roger Clemens, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, and MLB network analyst and 12-year MLB standout Kevin Millar.

A group of amateur ClubCorp members will compete in a qualifying system that includes regional and national events to earn a spot alongside the stars during the official tournament rounds to play in their own modified stableford, low gross and low net format. The celebrities, amateurs and the professionals will be paired together all three days of competition, and those days will be broadcast on Golf Channel.

With its international private club status, ClubCorp embraces its role as a leading lifestyle company bringing people together through extraordinary experiences, impeccable service and opportunities to build meaningful relationships. The recent re-imagination of Las Colinas Country Club as a premier golf and country club showcases the company's commitment to delivering exceptional experiences across its unmatched portfolio. 

The ClubCorp Classic is operated by Mike Flaskey Entertainment. Flaskey, the founder and tournament executive director, is the former president and CEO of Diamond Resorts International and has extensive experience conceiving and overseeing top-tier golf events with both the LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR Champions, plus All-Stars and Hall of Famers from NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL teams.

Las Colinas Country Club, which was classically designed in 1963 by Joe Finger, was named among the top 100 courses in Texas by the Dallas Morning News and selected as one of 2019 Best Country Clubs by Avid Golfer. The 18-hole course recently underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation and now features Trinity Zoysia fairways, Tif Tuf Bermuda rough and G12 Bermuda Greens. A brand-new practice facility that covers more than 10 acres was designed by Golf Hall-of-Famer, Lanny Wadkins.

About ClubCorp – Since its founding in 1957, Dallas-based ClubCorp has operated with the central purpose of Building Relationships and Enriching Lives®. The leading owner-operator of private golf and country clubs, city and stadium clubs in North America, ClubCorp is relentless in its pursuit of providing extraordinary experiences, meaningful connections, shared passions and memorable moments for its more than 430,000 members. With approximately 20,000 peak-season employees and a portfolio of over 200 owned or operated golf and country clubs, city clubs, sports clubs, and stadium clubs in 27 states, the District of Columbia and two foreign countries, ClubCorp creates communities and a lifestyle through its championship golf courses, workspaces, handcrafted cuisine, resort-style pools, tennis and pickleball facilities, golf lounges, fitness centers and robust programming.

ClubCorp properties include Firestone Country Club (Akron, Ohio); Mission Hills Country Club (Rancho Mirage, California); The Woodlands Country Club (The Woodlands, Texas); and The Metropolitan in Chicago. You can find ClubCorp on Facebook at facebook.com/clubcorp and on Twitter at @ClubCorp.

About PGA TOUR Champions – PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 34 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, at facebook.com/PGATOURChampions, on Twitter @ChampionsTour, on Instagram @pgatourchampions and on TikTok (pgatourchampions). 

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

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