Sandler Training signs several TOUR players to sponsorship deals

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STEVENSON, Md. -- PGA TOUR veterans Woody Austin, John Rollins, Brian Bateman and Omar Uresti are representing Sandler Training, the company announced. They will sport the Sandler logo on their golf hats and apparel during the 2008 PGA TOUR season.

Sandler, ranked the world's largest sales and management training company, said there is a compelling alignment between the goals of its customers and franchisees and the commitments to personal excellence, integrity and the competitive spirit embodied by the PGA TOUR and professional golfers.

"The Sandler Selling System® helps people and organizations achieve their goals because it uniquely recognizes that fundamental and lasting improvements require repeated reinforcement over time," said Sandler CEO Dave Mattson.

"Like our brand, success on the golf course, especially at the high level of play on the PGA TOUR, is founded on the same commitment to excellence. We look forward to spending time with the great golfers on our team and introducing them to the many thousands of customers we have across the country and, literally, around the world."

The four golfers are all coming off of strong 2007 performances: Austin experienced his best season in 2007, with earnings of more than $3.1 million. In December, he won the Merrill Lynch Shootout by a stroke with teammate Mark Calcavecchia by holing a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole. He also won the Stanford St. Jude Championship and was a runner-up in the PGA Championship and the Buick Open.

Rollins also enjoyed his best year in terms of earnings in 2007 with more than $2.4 million. He placed second twice, the first in a playoff at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the other at the FBR Open.

Bateman will always remember 2007 as the year he won his first PGA TOUR event. He opened the Buick Open with a 65 and never looked back. Bateman rolled in a 12-foot putt on the 72nd hole to claim victory. He also converted up-and-down pars on Nos. 16 and 17 to preserve the victory, which qualifies him for a trip to Augusta, Ga., and the 2008 Masters. He said he's dreamed of playing there since he was a kid.

Uresti was a member of the PGA TOUR in 1995-2000 and 2004-06. He dominated the Nationwide Tour in 2007 with a victory at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship. He finished with six top-10 finishes and earned his PGA TOUR card for 2008 by placing in the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour money list.

"Like our customers, PGA TOUR golfers rely on swing coaches and repetitive training to reinforce the fundamentals that are essential to sustained peak performance," said Steve Howell, Sandler vice president for operations. "We don't teach swing mechanics, but we do reinforce sales training with our customers to help them refine and maintain their skills in the highly competitive sales environments in which they work."