The 17th CVS Health Charity Classic is Set to Tee Off
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
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18th hole at CVS Classic
The
CVS Health Charity Classic returns for its 17th season from June 28 - 30 at the Rhode Island Country Club. As always, the Classic kicks off with a pro-am on Sunday, June 28 before the tournament begins on the 29th.
Sunday's pro-am is free and open to the public as the CVS Health Charity Classic celebrates Community Day.
"We are in our 17th year of raising money for local charities in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts and it's been a great ride for us," said CVS Charity Classic Tournament Director Greg Costello.
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Since the tournament began in 1999, the CVS Charity Classic has donated over $18 million to local charities, including a landmark $1.4 million in 2014.
The Pairings
Over its 16 year history, the CVS Charity Classic has seen current PGA Tour stars like Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler to legends like Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus come to Rhode Island.
"We've been very fortunate with the golfers that we have had come here over the last 16 years, it's been a good concentration of players," Costello said.
The 2015 CVS Health Charity Classic pairings are as follows:
- Billy Andrade - Brad Faxon
- Steve Stricker - Bo Van Pelt
- Billy Horschel - Jimmy Walker
- Jon Curran - Keegan Bradley
- Bill Haas – Webb Simpson
- J.B. Holmes - Hunter Mahan
- Harris English - Lexi Thompson
- Erik Compton - Suzann Pettersen
- Russell Henley - Morgan Pressel
- Juli Inkster - Peter Jacobsen
Highlighting the pairings are Brad Faxon and Billy Andrade, tournament co-hosts, teaming up in seek of their first CVS Classic victory.
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Stricker and Van Pelt look for three-peat
Steve Stricker and Bo Van Pelt will look to become the first team in tournament history to three-peat after being the first team in tournament history to repeat in 2014.
One pair that will challenge the defending champions is the team of Jon Curran and Keegan Bradley, both newcomers to the CVS Classic and both from New England. Bradley and Curran were teammates in high school.
Only one co-ed team has ever won the CVS Charity Classic (Morgan Pressel, Jay Haas, 2012) and this year, four co-ed teams will have a chance to win including the veteran pair of Juli Inkster and Peter Jacobsen.
The Format
The format for the CVS Health Charity Classic will be the same as it is every year, best ball of the twosome.
This is a format that PGA and LPGA professionals don't play alot on tour except in Ryder Cup's, President's Cups and Solheim Cups on the women's side.
Best ball of the twosome means that the players will each shoot their own score but the lowest score of the two will count towards the team's tournament score.
For example, if on one hole, Steve Stricker taps in for a four but Van Pelt makes a three, the team score would be a three.
Rhode Island Country Club
Rhode Island Country Club was designed by Donald Ross in 1911 and has hosted four United States Golf Association (USGA) Championships and has been the home of the CVS Charity Classic since it began.
"It's been great, it's a tremendous golf course, it's always in great shape for us. I don't know if you can beat the last four holes in Rhode Island," Costello said about Rhode Island Country Club.
Rhode Island Country Club is a par 71 with three par-5's and stretches over 6,680 yards with the four closing holes over looking the water.
Events Surrounding the Classic
Along with the golf tournament, the 2015 CVS Health Charity Classic will feature many other activities.
"Every year, we try to add fun family events to the tournament," Costello said.
This year, those events include the Rocky Point 5k on Saturday, June 27 in Warwick, CVS Charity Classic Community day on Sunday, June 28 where families can enjoy food trucks, mobile farmers and more.
Other activities include the Charity Miles Campaign as well as a fresh truck pop-up market and cooking demo.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the CVS Health Charity Classic, click here.
Related Slideshow: 2015 CVS Charity Classic Field
Here is the 2015 CVS Health Charity Classic Field.
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Morgan Pressel
Morgan Pressel is the first women to win the CVS Charity Classic, doing so in 2012 when she teamed with Champions Tour Pro Jay Haas.
Pressel turned pro in 2006 and has two career LPGA Tour victories to go with 53 top ten finishes and four Solheim Cup appearances.
This is Pressel's seventh appearance at the CVS Health Charity Classic.
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Suzann Pettersen
Suzann Pettersen is making her fifth appearance at the CVS Health Charity Classic and just recently picked up her 15th career win at the 2015 Manulife LPGA Classic.
Pettersen has racked up 103 top ten finishes since turning pro in 2003 and has made appearances in the Solheim Cup, her last one coming in 2013.
Pettersen is currently ranked fifth in the Rolex Rankings.
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Erik Compton
Erik Compton will make his second appearence at the CVS Charity Classic and is the only professional golfer in the world to be competing after having a heart transplant.
Compton is currently number 116 in the world and 103 in the FedExCup rankings.
Compton's career highlight came in 2014 when he finished second in the U.S. Open.
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Webb Simpson
Webb Simpson will be making his first appearence at the CVS Charity Classic and comes in ranked 40th in the world and 34th in the FedExCup Standings.
Simpson is a four time winner on the PGA Tour including a win at the 2012 U.S. Open championship and the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship.
Simpson is also a two time Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup Team Member.
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Russell Henley
Russell Henley will be making his third straight appearance at the CVS Health Charity Classic and currently is holding onto the 41st spot in the FedExCup Rankings and 53rd in the official world golf rankings.
Henley turned pro in 2011 and has since recorded two victories on tour. The first came in 2013 at the Sony Open and the second came in 2014 at The Honda Classic.
Henley has three top ten finishes in 15 events so far this season.
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Harris English
Harris English will be making his second appearance at the Charity Classic and comes in ranked 37th in the FedExCup Standings and 70th in the official world golf rankings.
English is a two time PGA Tour Winner, hoisting the trophy at the 2014 OHL Classic and the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
In 2015, English has three top ten finishes, including a second and third place finish in 17 events played.
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Hunter Mahan
Hunter Mahan is from California and currently is the 33rd ranked golfer in the world and ranked 56th in the FedExCup.
Mahan is a six time PGA Tour winner who has competed on four Presidents Cup and two Ryder Cup Teams.
This will be Mahan's third appearence at the CVS Charity Classic.
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Brad Faxon
Brad Faxon will once again be co-hosting the tournament with fellow Rhode Islander Billy Andrade. Together, the two have helped raise over $17 million for local charities in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts since the tournament started in 1999.
Faxon had eight wins on the PGA Tour and has two on the Champions Tour.
In mid-April, Faxon was honored with the Francis Ouimet Award.
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Billy Andrade
Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon will once again be co-hosting the tournament. Together, the two have helped raise over $17 million for local charities in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts since the tournament started in 1999.
Andrade has four career wins on the PGA Tour and one win this season on the Champions Tour.
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Keegan Bradley
Keegan Bradley is from Vermont and currently ranks 41st in the world and 73rd in the FedExCup Rankings.
This season, Bradley has played in 13 events and has two top ten finishes and 11 made cuts.
In 2011, Bradley won his first major, the PGA Championship.
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Steve Stricker
Steve Stricker is the defending CVS Charity Classic champion and comes into this year's event with a career total of 12 PGA Tour wins.
Stricker ranks 88th in the world and 173rd in the FedExCup standings but has had to play a limited schedule due to back injuries.
Stricker only played in 11 events last season and has only four so far this year.
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Peter Jacobsen
Peter Jacobsen has been a major part of the CVS Classics throughout the years and is returning for another.
Jacobsen has seven career PGA Tour wins and 15 runner up finishes. Jacobsen also adds two career Champions Tour wins.
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Juli Inkster
Juli Inkster has 31 career wins on the LPGA Tour including two U.S. Women's Opens and two LPGA Championships.
Inkster also adds 149 top ten finishes and nine Solheim Cup appearences, her most recent one coming in 2011.
In 2015, Inkster will be part of another Solheim Cup team but this time, as the captain.
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Lexi Thompson
Lexi Thompson is in her third season on the LPGA Tour and has a total of four career victories and 25 top ten finishes.
One of those victories came in 2014 when she won her first major championship at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, beating Michelle Wie by three shots.
Her best finish so far this season is a tie for fourth place at the Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout.
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J.B. Holmes
J.B. Holmes is currenty ranked 13th in the official world golf rankings and fourth in the FedExCup Rankings.
Since turning pro in 2005, Holmes has four career wins and four runner up finishes including a win this season at the Shell Houston Open.
Holmes also had a runner up finish at the World Golf Championships - Cadillac Championship.
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Jon Curran
Jon Curran is a rookie on the PGA Tour this season and has one runner up finish and three top tens in the 18 events that he has played.
Curran is currently ranked 219th in the world and sits in the 103rd spot in the FedExCup Rankings.
Curran is from Hopkinton, Massachusetts and was a high school teammate of Keegan Bradley.
Photo courtesy of pgatour.com
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Bill Haas
Bill Haas first turned pro in 2004 after attending Wake Forest University and has recorded 42 top-10 finishes in his career.
He is currently ranked 22nd in the world and is in 16th place in the FedExCup Rankings.
The Charlotte, North Carolina native also won the 2015 Humana Challenge this year.
Photo courtesy of: Flickr/www.tourprogolfclubs.com
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Bo Van Pelt
Bo Van Pelt has been on the PGA Tour since 1998 and will be one of the veteran players at this year's tournament.
Bo Van Pelt is also one half of the defending champions for the CVS Classic with his partner Steve Stricker.
He has one top-10 finish in 2015 and last won a tournament in 2009.
Van Pelt currently sits at 151st place in the FedExCup Rankings and is 235th in the world.
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Jimmy Walker
Jimmy Walker is 2nd in the FedExCup Rankings and is 12th in the world.
Walker won the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Valero Texas Open earlier this season.
Since turning pro in 2001, Walker has bagged 34 top-10 finishes.
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Billy Horschel
Billy Horschel attended the University of Florida and joined the pro tour in 2009.
Since then, he has won three tournaments and recorded 17 top-10 finishes.
He currently is ranked 20th in the world and 58th in the FedExCup Rankings.
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