12. 10.2012
the unusually long eight-year commitment by the health ben- efits provider Humana and the william J. clinton foundation to the pga tour stop in california formerly known as the bob Hope classic was all about giving the event time to do things right. the twin mission was to repurpose the tournament as an educational tool for healthy living and to improve the quality of a field that in one recent year had none of the top 36 players in the world. that effort kicked off this past January with a “Health matters” summit the tuesday before the inaugural Humana challenge, and the field featured phil mickelson and greg nor- man, who responded to personal phone calls from clinton. last week tournament organizers said mickelson will be back in 2013 along with fedex cup champion and world no. 9 brandt snedeker and defending champion mark wilson. sure tiger and rory will be in abu dhabi Jan. 17-20, but there are several million reasons for that. the Humana and its new format—four ounds instead of five, three courses instead of four, two ama- teurs instead of three—has turned a crucial corner. the event hat started in 1960 as the palm springs desert golf classic (and counts arnold palmer, Jack nicklaus, billy casper, doug sanders and Johnny miller among its champions) has taken significant steps to return to its glory days. —R.S. hope for humana 09
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