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Tiger Woods Enters Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow, May 3-9
No. 1-Ranked Player in the World Heads Field of 156 in $5.6 Million Tournament That Pays $1,008,000 to Winner
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tiger Woods, a six-time PGA TOUR Player of the Year, including the last five in a row, and the undisputed No. 1 player in the world, has added his name to the illustrious entry list for the second annual Wachovia Championship, which will be played at Quail Hollow, May 3-9.
Woods, winner of this year’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, will join a strong field that includes five of the top six players in the World Rankings.
“We are excited for the City of Charlotte and for the patrons who have bought tickets,” said Wachovia Championship Tournament Director Kym Hougham. “To now have five of the top six players in the world coming to our tournament shows that a lot of hard work by all involved is paying off.”
The field also has includes major championship winners Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem, Mike Weir, Davis Love III, Mark Brooks, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Justin Leonard, Lee Janzen, Bernhard Langer, Curtis Strange and defending champion David Toms.
The Wachovia Championship, a 72-hole tournament that features a $5.6 million purse, will pay $1,008,000 to the winner. It will mark the first time Woods will play in North Carolina since the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst.
The 28-year-old Woods will enter the Wachovia Championship riding a record streak of 247 consecutive weeks as the No. 1-ranked player in the world. He has been No. 1 for a total of 316 weeks overall and is closing in on Greg Norman’s record of 331 total weeks as the world’s top-ranked player. If he maintains his No. 1 ranking, he will catch Norman during the week of the PGA Championship (Aug. 9-15) and pass him the following week
When Woods won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship this year, it was his 40th career victory, which tied him with Cary Middlecoff for eighth place in career victories on the PGA TOUR. The $275,000 he won for his fourth-place finish in the season-opening Mercedes Championship pushed his record career earnings to more than $40 million.
Woods has made some minor swing adjustments and believes he is close to hitting the ball the way he wants to again.
“My game has been just a touch off,” he said. “I think 90 percent of my shots are really good, but I am pleased overall. If my other 10 percent are not playable, that’s the problem. They need to just be missing the green on the correct side instead of the short side, or just missing the fairway on the correct side. When I miss the fairway on the wrong side, I leave myself no angle into the green. Those are minor things, though, and I will get them right.”
Woods will be well-rested going into the Wachovia Championships. It will be his first tournament since the Masters and he is eager to get back into competition.
The Wachovia Championship will be televised by USA Network on Thursday and Friday and by CBS on Saturday and Sunday.
Proceeds from all PGA TOUR events benefit charities selected by the tournament organization. The nationally known educational foundation, Teach For America, has been selected as the primary charitable recipient of the Wachovia Championship for 2004, in keeping with Wachovia's strong commitment to furthering education opportunities in local communities.
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About the Wachovia Championship
The Wachovia Championship is one of the largest, most prestigious sporting events in the Charlotte region. Now in its second year, the tournament is intended as an annual tradition that will bring customers, players and patrons back each year for an unforgettable golf experience, and is poised to become the number one non-major event on the PGA TOUR. The 2004 tournament will be held May 3-9. Sponsored by Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB), the tournament’s $5.6 million purse guarantees the winner in excess of $1 million is one of the largest on the PGA TOUR, and is expected to draw many of the world’s top golfers to Charlotte.
About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation, with assets of $411.0 billion, market capitalization of $61.7 billion and stockholders’ equity of $33.3 billion at March 31, 2004. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 12 million client relationships (including households and businesses), primarily in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients in 49 states. Global services are provided through 32 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.
Editor’s Note: For the tournament logo or spectator maps in JPG, EPS or PDF format, contact Nora Carr, Luquire George Andrews, 704-552-6565, ext. 145 or carr@lgapr.com.