NEWS RELEASE For Release: June 8, 2004 Ticket Info: www.saschampionship.com or 1-800-531-7PGA (7742) Contact: Chris Madigan, [email protected] or (203) 352-6325 SEVEN-TIME MAJOR WINNER HALE IRWIN, 2003 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CRAIG STADLER HIGHLIGHT EARLY COMMITMENTS TO SAS CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY FORBES CARY, N.C. – Tournament officials for the SAS Championship presented by Forbes announced today that Hale Irwin, Craig Stadler, Jim Thorpe, Bruce Lietzke and defending champion D.A. Weibring intend to play in the fourth annual SAS Championship. The SAS Championship, an official event on the Champions Tour, returns to Prestonwood Country Club, September 20-26. “Any time these five golfers are in your field, you are bound for a great tournament,” said Jeff Kleiber, tournament director. “Golf fans will get to see the entire spectrum while watching these guys play. Irwin is still one of the most competitive golfers on the Tour and Stadler has always been one of the most entertaining. Thorpe and Lietzke are two of the most consistent golfers on the Champions Tour and D.A.’s considered one of the top newcomers on Tour.” Thorpe came from three strokes back with a final-round 66 to capture his eighth career title last week in Grand Rapids, MI. He has recorded at least one win in each of his five seasons on the Tour and also became the 15th player in Champions Tour history to exceed $10 million in career earnings. Thorpe finished T4 in last year’s SAS Championship and has earned $131,409 in his three appearances in Cary. Irwin’s win eight days ago at the 2004 Senior PGA Championship in Louisville allowed him to join Jack Nicklaus as the only other player to win the same major championship four times since the inception of the Champions Tour in 1980. This win gave Irwin his seventh major championship on the Champions Tour (four Senior PGA Championships, two U.S. Senior Opens and a Ford Senior Players Championship) leaving him one shy of Nicklaus’ all-time mark. Combined with his victory at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf in April, Irwin now has won two events in a season for a record 10 straight years. In his three trips to Cary, Irwin has always finished in the top-25 and has earned $100,779. Weibring wasn’t sure he was going to be able to finish the final round of the SAS Championship, let alone win the tournament last year. Battling flu-like symptoms all day, Weibring shot a 6-under, 66 to win his first event on the Champions Tour. He claimed his second Champions Tour victory three weeks ago at the Allianz Championship and is currently in eighth place in the Charles Schwab Cup race. The $270,000 he earned at last year’s SAS Championship equals his largest payday during his 29 years in professional golf. Lietzke is returning to Cary and it’s no secret he loves Prestonwood Country Club. The winner of the first two SAS Championship tournaments, he’s earned more than $500,000 while in Cary. His most recent victory came at the 2003 U.S. Senior Open but he’s finished in second place two times this year, at Bruno’s Memorial Classic and the FedEx Kinko’s Classic. Stadler was named the Tour’s 2003 Rookie of the Year after winning three events (Ford Senior Players Championship, Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn and the SBC Championship) and finishing 14th on the money list. He made history by becoming the first Champions Tour player to win on the PGA Tour winning the 2003 B.C. Open. He claimed his fourth Champions Tour title in February at The ACE Group Classic. Stadler earned $49,500 by finishing T8 last year in his first SAS Championship. - more - SAS Championship Early Commitments – Page 2 Tickets for the SAS Championship are on sale and for a limited time, golf fans can take advantage of special discounted prices. The SAS Championship Six Pack is available at a discounted rate of $99 if purchased before Father’s Day. The golf package includes two weekly grounds badges, two rounds of golf at Prestonwood Country Club and one round of golf at Heritage Golf Club, Crooked Creek Golf Club, The Preserve at Jordan Lake, and The Neuse Golf Club. After June 20, the golf package will be sold for $120. The Tournament is also offering a 2-for-1 special on all daily and weekly tickets. Two daily tickets can be purchased for $20 and two weekly tickets can be purchased for $40 until June 20. Once the 2-for-1 offer expires, daily and weekly tickets can be purchased for $20 and $40, respectively. Entering its fourth year, the SAS Championship and the Triangle area have become one of the most popular stops on the Champions Tour. Boasting one of the largest non-major purses on the Tour, the event annually draws one of the strongest player fields of the year. Lietzke won the first two SAS Championships, with Weibring pulling out the win on the final hole last year. Proceeds from the tournament benefit numerous charities in the Triangle, including Communities In Schools of Wake County (CISWC), through the Triangle Community Foundation. The SAS Community Learning Center at Kentwood, an educational facility in a Raleigh public housing neighborhood, was constructed with Tournament proceeds and is funded through the tournament. CISWC offers programming, tutor-mentors and a computer lab to more than 250 young people and adult residents in the Kentwood community. CISWC was recognized in 2003 as the Champions Tour Charity of the Year. The SAS Championship presented by Forbes will kick-off on Monday, September 20 with early week Pro-Ams, Special Events and Clinics. Competitive rounds for the $1.8 million purse begin on Friday, September 24 and continue through Sunday, September 26. Tickets for the SAS Championship can be purchased by logging onto www.saschampionship.com or by calling 1-800-531-7PGA (7742). About SAS SAS is the market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 40,000 sites -- including 90 percent of the Fortune 500 -- to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For nearly three decades, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know®. About Octagon’s Golf Division Octagon’s Golf Division manages some of the finest professional golf events including two Champions Tour events, The ACE Group Classic presented by Terminix Commercial and the SAS Championship presented by Forbes; two LPGA Tour events, the Sybase Classic presented by Lincoln Mercury and the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic; and one Nationwide Tour event, the SAS Carolina Classic. Octagon’s golf division also represents nearly 40 golfing professionals including Davis Love III, Jonathan Byrd, Chris Smith, Joe Durant, DJ Trahan, Meg Mallon, Beth Daniel, Emilee Klein, Bob Gilder, Tom Kite, Gary Koch, and brothers, Bobby and Lanny Wadkins. # # # .