RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. – Much of PGA TOUR Champions’ starpower, competitive depth and intrigue is built on golfers whose rose has fully bloomed beyond their professional pasts on the PGA TOUR and international tours.
Steven Alker, Stephen Ames, Jerry Kelly and Alex Cejka have achieved Charles Schwab Cup-contending status in recent years, and their commitments to play the second-annual Galleri Classic, held on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club from March 25-31, may give Galleri Classic patrons a glimpse into their rise to the upper echelon of the PGA TOUR Champions ranks.
The Galleri Classic, named after title sponsor GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test, will feature 78 PGA TOUR Champions professionals playing 54 holes (three rounds) of stroke play for a $2.2 million purse.
All Galleri Classic ticket options are available online at www.TheGalleriClassic.com. Ticket offerings (March 27-31) include daily and weekly grounds tickets for $30 and $65, respectively, and clubhouse tickets (good only March 29-31) for $75 per day or $150 for all three competition rounds.
In the first two events of the 2024 season on PGA TOUR Champions, Alker won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai and Ames was victorious at the Chubb Classic. Alker and Ames finished second and fifth, respectively, in last year’s Charles Schwab Cup (money leaders) standings, while Kelly and Cejka finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the Schwab Cup race.
“The additions of Steven Alker, Stephen Ames, Jerry Kelly and Alex Cejka have significantly strengthened the 2024 Galleri Classic field as we are now set to host seven of the top nine golfers in the 2023 Charles Schwab Cup standings,” said Michelle DeLancy, tournament director of The Galleri Classic. “Steven Alker and Stephen Ames are already off to great starts in 2024, and Jerry and Alex have won multiple majors in the past few years. The Galleri Classic is lining up to once again display a major championship-worthy vibe at Mission Hills.”
Coming off a 2022 season in which he won four of his eight PGA TOUR Champions titles and captured the Charles Schwab Cup, Alker followed up with two more wins in 2023 and outearned everyone except Steve Stricker in his attempt to retain that trophy. Alker shot a 12-under-par 204 at Mission Hills CC to place runner-up in the inaugural Galleri Classic and the New Zealand native closed 2023 in winning the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
A four-time PGA TOUR winner, highlighted by his 2006 PLAYERS Championship triumph, Ames won four of his seven PGA TOUR Champions titles last year. Three of those victories came in his first 10 starts. The Canadian capped 2023 with a runner-up finish in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and has created a wave of momentum to ride into 2024.
Kelly, a Wisconsin native and three-time PGA TOUR winner, achieved 11 PGA TOUR Champions titles in his first five seasons (2017-2022) on the circuit. Two of those titles were major championship victories at the 2020 Bridgestone SENIOR PLAYERS Championship and the 2022 Kaulig Companies Championship, the latter providing the shine on a three-win PGA TOUR Champions season.
Cejka burst onto the PGA TOUR Champions scene in 2021, following a PGA TOUR career which yielded one victory, in winning major championships at the Regions Tradition and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship – his third and fifth starts, respectively, on PGA TOUR Champions. He tallied a third major (and third PGA TOUR Champions win) at last year’s Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex, outlasting Padraig Harrington in a three-hole playoff at Royal Portrush.
Cejka, who placed T16 (8-under 208) at the 2023 Galleri Classic, fled old Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime at age 9 for Yugoslavia, then Italy, then Switzerland before eventually taking residence and citizenship in Germany. He was inspired to take up golf as a child by following the exploits of fellow countryman and PGA TOUR Champions member Bernhard Langer.
Alker, Ames, Kelly and Cejka join 2023 PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year Steve Stricker, 2023 Galleri Classic champion David Toms, World Golf Hall of Famers Fred Couples and Ernie Els and two-time major champion John Daly as tournament entrants in the 2024 field. Stricker will serve as an ambassador for Galleri, helping to raise awareness of multi-cancer early detection.
A 13-time PGA TOUR champion and winner of the 2001 PGA Championship and the 2018 U.S. Senior Open, Toms led wire-to-wire and made birdies on six of his last 10 holes en route to winning the Galleri Classic with an overall score of 16-under-par 200 (65-70-65). It is the most recent of Toms’ four PGA TOUR Champions titles, as he became the circuit’s first two-time event winner in 2023.
In celebration of The Galleri Classic’s final round occurring on Easter Sunday (March 31), the event will host an Easter Celebration. This includes a 6:30 a.m. (PT) morning service in the bleachers surrounding the 18th green and an Easter egg hunt for children at noon on the driving range in kicking off its Championship Sunday.
In 2024, The Galleri Classic will continue its partnership with six cancer-related, non-profit organizations based in the Coachella Valley – American Cancer Society/Palm Desert, The Desert Cancer Foundation, Eisenhower Health, Hanson House, Pendleton Foundation and Shay’s Warriors Life After Cancer – and will direct a portion of its proceeds from the event to fund these local charities.
The Galleri Classic’s fans play a part in supporting the tournament’s off-course charitable endeavor when securing tickets online at www.TheGalleriClassic.com.
The Champions Club on 18 provides The Galleri Classic’s most sophisticated spectator experience. Day-specific Champions Club tickets (good only during competition rounds March 29-31) can be secured for $350 per day, or Weekly Champions Club tickets (good March 29-31) are available for $1,050.
Limited availability remains for spots in The Galleri Classic’s official Pro-Am on March 27-28 (Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week). The Galleri Classic Pro-Am provides an unmatched opportunity for golf enthusiasts to go inside the ropes for a fantasy-like, bucket-list experience of playing on Mission Hills CC’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course while rubbing elbows with legends of the game. Amateurs interested in playing in the Pro-Am can seek more information and register at www.TheGalleriClassic.com/pro-am.
The Galleri Classic invites those 18 and older who are interested in a behind-the-scenes experience of how a professional golf tournament operates during tournament week (March 25-31) to join its invaluable team of more than 500 volunteers. Those interested in volunteering can learn more about each committee and submit a form of inquiry towards registration at www.TheGalleriClassic.com/volunteers.
Stay updated on The Galleri Classic at www.TheGalleriClassic.com and by following the event on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gallericlassic), Instagram (@GalleriClassic) and Twitter (@GalleriClassic).
About GRAIL
GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is focused on alleviating the global burden of cancer by developing pioneering technology to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types early. The company is using the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop its multi-cancer early detection blood test. GRAIL is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. GRAIL, LLC, is a subsidiary of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) currently held separate from Illumina Inc. under the terms of the Interim Measures Order of the European Commission.
For more information, visit grail.com.
About Galleri®
The Galleri multi-cancer early detection test is a proactive tool in finding cancer early. With a simple blood draw, the Galleri test can identify DNA shed by cancer cells (unique “fingerprints”) to help screen for some of the deadliest cancers that don’t have recommended screening today, such as pancreatic, esophageal, ovarian, liver, and others.** The Galleri test can be used to screen for cancer before a person becomes symptomatic, when cancer may be more easily treated and potentially curable. The Galleri test can indicate the origin of the cancer, giving healthcare providers a roadmap of where to explore further. The Galleri test requires a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider and should be used in addition to recommended cancer screenings such as mammography, colonoscopy, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, or cervical cancer screening. It is recommended for people over the age of 50, or those with an elevated risk for cancer due to genetics, family history, environmental exposure, or other risk factors.
For more information about Galleri, visit galleri.com.
**Editor’s note: Sensitivity in study participants with -
Liver/bile duct cancer: 93.5% overall (100% stage I, 70.0% stage II, 100% stage III, 100% stage IV).
Esophagus cancer 85.0% overall (12.5% stage I, 64.7% stage II, 94.7% stage III, 100% stage IV).
Pancreas cancer: 83.7% overall (61.9% stage I, 60.0% stage II, 85.7% stage III, 95.9% stage IV).
Ovary cancer: 83.1% overall (50.0% stage I, 80.0% stage II, 87.1% stage III, 94.7% stage IV).
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 35 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, on Facebook, on Twitter (@ChampionsTour), on Instagram (@pgatourchampions) and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).
All events are televised in the United States on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Internationally, PGA TOUR Champions coverage is available in more than 170 countries and territories via 22 media partners.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Damian Secore, Brener Zwikel & Associates
951-454-6047; damians@bzapr.com