BMW Media Site 2012 BMW Championship Earns PGA TOUR’s Tournament of Year Honor Contact: Stacy  Morris 201-594-3360 (office) 201-370-5134 (cell) stacy.morris@bmwna.com     2012 BMW Championship Earns PGA TOUR’s Tournament of Year Honor Woodcliff Lake, NJ – December 11, 2012… The 2012 BMW Championship was named the Tournament of the Year by the PGA TOUR.  Held at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, IN the BMW Championship was one of the top attended tournaments on the PGA TOUR in 2012 attracting more than 143,000 spectators and raising more $3.1 million on behalf of the Evans Scholars Foundation, the sole beneficiary of the event. Hosted by BMW and conducted by the Western Golf Association, the BMW Championship is the penultimate event in the FedExCup Playoffs.  All proceeds from the BMW Championship benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, the WGA’s 82-year-old sister organization, which has been sending caddies-to-college since 1930.  Since 2007 BMW has raised more than $14.1 million for the charity.“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, I am pleased to acknowledge and congratulate the BMW Championship and the Western Golf Association on an outstanding event and to recognize the tournament team for its outstanding efforts,” said Andy Pazder, PGA TOUR executive vice-president and chief of operations.  “The Western Golf Association and title sponsor BMW should be extremely proud of being recognized as the best among their peers on the TOUR.”Pazder said the event’s successful tournament activation, ticket and corporate sales, attention to detail, and player amenities all played a significant role in its earning Tournament-of-the-Year status. The award was presented Thursday at the PGA TOUR Tournament Meetings in La Quinta, Calif.Since the event’s inception BMW has made an effort to heighten the tournament experience for both spectators and players.  BMW owner benefits have included complimentary tickets, exclusive parking shuttle transportation on-site, concierge service and private hospitality areas featuring some of the best views of the course. In addition, tournament patrons were treated to a 10,000 square foot BMW Experience interactive area, dynamic BMW vehicle displays, and premium concession and merchandise areas.Players had the opportunity to test drive some of BMW’s newest vehicles throughout the week along with a unique “BMW Driving Experience”. BMW also staged a table tennis exhibition for PGA TOUR players to challenge US table tennis player Timothy Wang. “On behalf of BMW of North America and the Western Golf Association, I would like to thank the PGA TOUR for honoring the BMW Championship as Tournament of the Year,” said Western Golf Association vice president of tournaments Vince Pellegrino.  “The PGA TOUR co-sponsors more than 40 outstanding events each season, and to be singled out from among this esteemed group is truly humbling.“Much of the credit for this honor should go to BMW, because its unparalleled commitment to excellence sets high standards for the event at every level of execution,” Pellegrino said.  “The support BMW provides is unique among sports marketing partners. The WGA and Evans Scholars Foundation are grateful to have BMW as our sponsor.”The BMW Championship also received PGA TOUR Tournament of the Year honors in 2008, when Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis hosted the event.The 2013 BMW Championship is set for September 9-15 at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill.BMW Group In AmericaBMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 139 BMW motorcycle retailers, 115 MINI passenger car dealers, and 32 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at:www.bmwgroupna.com.ABOUT PGA TOURThe PGA TOUR is the world’s premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning more than 100 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada.The PGA TOUR’s mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in communities in which it plays, and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players.PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to approximately 715 million households in 225 countries and territories in 29 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2011, tournaments on the three Tours generated more than $121 million for local charitable organizations, bringing the TOUR’s all-time total of charitable contributions to more than $1.7 billion.The PGA TOUR's web site is PGATOUR.com, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.About Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars FoundationThe Western Golf Association conducts four national golf championships and sponsors the nationally acclaimed Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship Program. Headquartered in Golf, Illinois, the organization was founded in 1899 by 11 Chicago-area golf clubs to promote their interests in golf. Today, more than 400 member clubs in states throughout the nation support the WGA.The WGA conducts two prestigious amateur championships, the Western Amateur and the Western Junior, as well as the BMW Championship, the third of four PGA TOUR Playoff events in the TOUR’s FedExCup competition. Since 2007, the BMW Championship has raised more than $14 million dollars for the Evans Scholars Foundation. In 2013, the WGA is adding a fourth tournament, the Hotel Fitness Championship, one of four newly-created Web.com Tour Finals events.The WGA also champions education through golf in sponsoring the Evans Scholars Program. Established by famed amateur golfer Charles “Chick” Evans, Jr., the program provides full housing and tuition scholarships to deserving caddies across the country. Currently, 835 caddies are attending college on scholarship; there are more than 9,600 Evans Alumni across the country. Most Scholars attend one of the 14 universities where the Foundation owns and operates a Scholarship House.Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address: www.press.bmwna.com.  Additional information, images and video may be found at www.bmwusanews.com.  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