Regions Tradition

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.  --  The PGA TOUR, JELD-WEN, inc., tournament founder Lyle Anderson and Peter Jacobsen Productions, Inc. (PJP), Tuesday announced that The Tradition, one of the major championships on the PGA TOUR's Champions Tour, has a new home and a new title sponsor, JELD-WEN.

The JELD-WEN Tradition will be played Aug. 25-31, 2003 in Portland, Ore. The tournament marks the first time an official money TOUR event has been played in Portland since 1982. The purse will be $2 million -- among the top five on the Champions Tour -- with a first prize of $300,000. The host site will be announced at a later date.

JELD-WEN, one of the world's leading manufacturers of reliable and energy efficient windows and doors, entered into a four-year agreement (2003-2006) with the Champions Tour to sponsor the JELD-WEN Tradition.

"We welcome JELD-WEN to the family of Champions Tour sponsors," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. "Portland has a long history of supporting professional golf and we are sure it will embrace this major championship in a big way. With the strong partnership of JELD-WEN, the Champions Tour and Peter Jacobsen Productions in place, and the potential the Portland business and civic communities bring to the table, we anticipate a very successful championship in Portland and a generous contribution to the event's designated charities. We thank Lyle Anderson for his vision in creating the championship and his many contributions to it over the last 14 years, and we look forward to his continued support and involvement."

"With more than four decades of economic contribution and history in this state, we are proud and eager for the opportunity to bring Oregon and the Pacific Northwest into the national and international spotlight," said Rod Wendt, the third-generation president and CEO of JELD-WEN. "2003 promises to be a remarkable year for Oregon and for JELD-WEN. The Champions Tour represents excellence in golf. JELD-WEN represents that same excellence and reliability in windows and doors."

"We support the efforts of JELD-WEN and tournament officials in Portland as they carry on our tradition of recognizing and honoring the greatest players in the game," said Lyle Anderson, real estate developer and founder of The Tradition. "We're confident the event will have great success in the future."

Peter Jacobsen Productions, a Portland-based company headed by the PGA TOUR member of the same name, will manage the tournament. A host organization of leading Portland-area businessmen and civic leaders will be formed to spearhead volunteer coordination, area support and promotion of the tournament in cooperation with JELD-WEN, the Champions Tour and PJP, with an emphasis on raising money for education-related charities.
"Peter Jacobsen Productions is committed to keeping golf in our community," said Peter Jacobsen. "I'm so happy we are now able to continue that tradition with the JELD-WEN Tradition. This is truly major news for golf lovers in the Pacific Northwest, and I look forward to playing in my hometown in 2004."

Corvallis, Ore. native and resident Bob Gilder, this year's second leading money winner on the Champions Tour and runner-up in the Charles Schwab Cup, attended Tuesday's news conference.
"I can't wait for August and this championship to come to my home state," said Gilder. "On behalf of my fellow Champions Tour members, I would like to welcome JELD-WEN to the Tour. The players will really look forward to this event and I know the golf fans of Portland and Oregon will be fully supportive. JELD-WEN, its customers and executives, and the fans will be treated to major championship golf at its finest and enjoy the fan enhancements our Tour is fast becoming known for."

The Portland area first played host to the PGA TOUR in 1936 and again in 1944, '45 and '47, with Sam Snead and Ben Hogan winning the 1944 and '45 Portland Open Invitational, respectively. The PGA TOUR returned to play the same event at Portland Golf Club and Columbia-Edgewater Country Club from 1959-66. Billy Casper (1959-61) and Jack Nicklaus (1962, '64-65) were joined in the winner's circle by George Knudson (1963) and Bert Yancey (1966). Portland Golf Club played host to two other events, the 1982 U.S. Senior Open, won by Miller Barber, and the 1969 Alcan Open, won by Casper. Portland also was home to the Fred Meyer Challenge, which featured PGA TOUR and Champions Tour players, from 1986-2002. The LPGA has held 30 tournaments in Portland dating back to 1972.

The JELD-WEN Tradition will be televised with details to be announced in the near future.
The Tradition was founded by Anderson in 1989 to honor the game's great champions. It was played at The Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., a Lyle Anderson property, from 1989-2001 before moving to another Anderson property this year, nearby Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club. Nicklaus is the only four-time winner of the Lyle Anderson Trophy, awarded annually to the tournament champion. Jim Thorpe won this year's event defeating John Jacobs on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

In addition to its tournament sponsorship, JELD-WEN also will become an Official Marketing Partner of the PGA TOUR through 2006 with use of the TOUR marks for national retail promotion, TOUR network media for brand building, and other TOUR assets for business and relationship building.