CME Group to sponsor LPGA Season-Ending Titleholders tournament
CME Group Titleholders will feature unique qualifying format never previously used in pro golf
Yani Tseng, Michelle Wie, Karrie Webb among stars already qualified for Orlando tournament
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida, March 7, 2011 – The LPGA announced that CME Group (CME) has signed a three-year (3) agreement to title sponsor the season-ending Titleholders tournament. The inaugural CME Group Titleholders will serve as the LPGA Tour’s season finale and will be comprised of a field made up of three qualifiers from every official 2011 LPGA Tour tournament.
The Titleholders event will be the first time this unique qualifying format has ever been used in professional golf. The 2011 CME Group Titleholders will be held November 14 – 20 at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Florida.
CME Group previously has hosted pro-am events with LPGA Tour players as part of their annual Global Financial Leadership Conference. The company also sponsored the 2009 Solheim Cup. The combined experiences led to their decision to title sponsor an official LPGA Tour tournament.
“CME Group has been a friend of the LPGA for years and our players’ experiences with them proved that they are innovators and know how to run first-class dynamic events,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “I thank CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy for his support of the LPGA players and look forward to expanding his company’s branding with the LPGA Tour globally. This is an ideal partnership as the CME Group Titleholders will be a unique LPGA Tour tournament featuring the best players in the world while CME Group serves the risk management needs of its customers around the world.”
“We have had such tremendous success with the LPGA in the past through our annual Global Financial Leadership Conference that we are thrilled to partner with them again,” said CME Group Executive Chairman Terry Duffy. “Sponsoring this one-of-a-kind Titleholders event will effectively extend the reach of the CME Group brand and allow us new opportunities to engage with our customers globally.”
Players will punch their “Ticket to the CME Group Titleholders” in a season-long unifying program that showcases the best performing players from the 2011 LPGA Tour season. It will highlight CME Group as Title Sponsor but also showcase the events and title sponsors from which the players qualified to be in the field. The 2011 LPGA Tour schedule will feature 24 official money events in 12 countries, plus the bi-annual Solheim Cup matches pitting the United States against Europe in Dunsany, Ireland.
“Each tournament week, we’ll talk about who is ‘in’ the CME Group Titleholders, which enables us to discuss CME Group and our LPGA partners throughout the year,” Whan said. “It truly will be a celebration of all the title sponsors who make the LPGA so special.”
The six players already qualified for the CME Group Titleholders:
Honda LPGA Thailand: Yani Tseng (Taiwan), Michelle Wie (U.S.), Karrie Webb (Australia)
HSBC Women’s Champions: Sun Young Yoo (South Korea), Morgan Pressel (U.S.), Na Yeon Choi (South Korea)
Topics: Press Release
