SCOTTSDALE (AZ) – Jordan Spieth requested a donation to his personal foundation. This foundation focuses on children with cancer, veterans and military families, individuals with special needs and junior golfers.
Gary Woodland chose Folds of Honor as his non-profit to award college scholarships for the families of American military veterans.
The list of charities to which the Thunderbirds have donated on behalf of PGA Tour winners is endless.
Woodland, the 2018 tournament winner, said that the Thunderbirds were “those guys just do it right.” They gave me my first sponsor exemption back in 2011, and I’ve been back every year since. They have a great party, and they love to have fun. But, they also do a lot of good for their community and raise lots of money.
The charity that hosts the WM Phoenix Open since 87 years, the Thunderbirds donates to the charity chosen by the winner every week.
Is this a recruiting tactic? It may be subtle, but that is the main goal. That’s exactly what Thunderbirds do.
Chance Cozby is the Thunderbirds’ executive director. “I have never felt comfortable going up to players at other tournaments and trying to convince them that we should host our event. They won’t play if we try to convince them.”
Because it was selected to be one of the designated 2022-23 events, the WM Phoenix Open will boast its strongest field in history. The purse was also increased to $20 million. Cozby didn’t need to recruit because the stars would show up.
After making birdie on the 16th hole, Jordan Spieth and Michael Greller celebrate with their caddie at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports)
Spieth pointed out that the Thunderbirds “really good in the small things.” Exhibit A could be the congratulatory letters sent to all winners.
It’s a page straight from The Arnold Palmer playbook. Every week, The King took the time to send a note of congratulations to each winner of professional golf tournaments for years. These letters were framed by players from Daniel Berger to Paula Creamer. Bernhard Langer, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, has been awarded more than 100 times in various parts of the world. He said that getting a letter from Palmer was always a pleasant experience.
“When I won a tournament I was always curious if Arnie would send me another letter. It did arrive,” Langer said to Golfweek. “I was shocked when I received the first one, as not everyone does that. I was extremely surprised and grateful.
“And they kept coming.”
In 2016, the year that Palmer died, the Thunderbirds began their letter-writing campaign. The Tour tournament winner donation program was created by Dan Mahoney in his role as WMPO tournament chair. Every winner receives a letter of congratulations from the tournament chairman, along with a promise to donate $2,500 for the charity of their choice. The donation will double if you win one of the four majors. The program has raised $556,000.
Cozby stated, “We don’t talk about it. It’s not individually a huge amount of money, but it’s every week.” “Hopefully players realize that we don’t think about them just seven days a calendar year.”
Thunderbirds Charities was established in 1986 as a non-profit to distribute funds raised from the WM Phoenix Open golf event. The Thunderbirds raised over $10 million last year to support Arizona charities. This was the fifth consecutive year that the WM Phoenix Open and the Thunderbirds have raised more than $10,000,000 in charitable dollars in a single tournament. The 2022 amount was more than twice what it raised 10years ago.
Thunderbirds have more to offer than the Tour’s annual trip to the Valley of the Sun. Since 2010, when WM was named title sponsors, the Tour has raised more that $110 million for Arizona charities.
Spieth, a 13 time Tour winner, said that it was “really cool what they do.” He last received a letter from Thunderbirds in April 2022 RBC Heritage. “I was stunned when I received the first letter. This is something very special. “These guys truly get it.
