RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. – The second-annual Galleri Classic Presented by Spotlight 29 Casino received playing commitments from two more major champions as 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and 1997 Open Championship winner Justin Leonard will tee it up for PGA TOUR Champions play at the renowned Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club from March 25-31.
Leonard will join a pair of four-time PGA TOUR winners in PGA TOUR Champions rookie Heath Slocum and Notah Begay III as those who are making their tournament debuts. The Galleri Classic, named after title sponsor GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test, will feature 78 PGA TOUR Champions professionals playing 54 holes (three rounds) of stroke play for a $2.2 million purse.
The Galleri Classic‘s ticket options are available online at www.TheGalleriClassic.com. Ticket offerings (March 27-31) include daily and weekly grounds tickets for $30 and $65, respectively, and clubhouse tickets (good only March 29-31) for $75 per day or $150 for all three competition rounds.
“We are thrilled to welcome back Jim Furyk to The Galleri Classic, as well as injecting new golfers into our tournament for our fans to follow as Justin Leonard, Heath Slocum and Notah Begay prepare to showcase their talents,” said Michelle DeLancy, tournament director of The Galleri Classic. “Jim finished top-20 in our inaugural event and has contended for titles with amazing consistency throughout his PGA TOUR career. We are confident the fan atmosphere and quality of the Tournament Course at Mission Hills will give Justin, Heath and Notah a similarly terrific first impression of The Galleri Classic that our returning golfers enjoyed last year.”
Making his 2024 PGA TOUR Champions debut this month in Southern California, Furyk posted a top-19 finish in last year’s Galleri Classic (6-under-par 210). He ranks in the PGA TOUR’s top 50 all-time with his 17 tournament victories, and is third all-time in top-10 finishes (since the PGA TOUR began keeping the statistic in 1980) with 188, trailing only Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Furyk, the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup champion in 2010, joined PGA TOUR Champions in 2020 and won his first two starts. He added a third title, and a first senior major championship, at the 2021 U.S. Senior Open. He also hosts a PGA TOUR Champions event annually in Jacksonville, Fla.
A 12-time PGA TOUR winner, Leonard achieved a claim to fame in the Coachella Valley by winning The American Express in 2005. The 1998 PLAYERS Championship winner also represented the United States in five Presidents Cups and three Ryder Cups between 1996 and 2008. As a collegiate at the University of Texas, Leonard won the 1992 U.S. Amateur and the 1994 NCAA Division I men’s individual golf championship. In his first full PGA TOUR Champions season last year, Leonard recorded five top-10 finishes and was runner-up (in a playoff) at September’s PURE Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach.
Since turning 50 on Feb. 3, Slocum has started in the three PGA TOUR Champions events he has been eligible for. His four PGA TOUR wins came from 2004-10, highlighted by his FedExCup playoff victory at The Barclays in 2009. He was a three-time NCAA All-American at the University of South Alabama.
Begay comes off of his first full PGA TOUR Champions season in 2023 and will make his second start in 2024 at The Galleri Classic. A three-time NCAA All-American and teammate of Tiger Woods at Stanford University, Begay is PGA TOUR Champions’ only active Native American golfer and is a frequent contributor to GOLF Channel and NBC Sports’ golf telecasts as an analyst.
Among others entered into The Galleri Classic’s player field are 2023 PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year and Charles Schwab Cup winner Steve Stricker, 2023 Galleri Classic champion David Toms, World Golf Hall of Famers and past World No. 1s Fred Couples, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh, World Golf Hall of Famer Retief Goosen, past World No. 1s David Duval and Tom Lehman, two-time major champion John Daly and 2023 Galleri Classic runner-up and 2022 Charles Schwab Cup champion Steven Alker. Stricker will raise awareness of multi-cancer early detection as an ambassador for Galleri.
A 13-time PGA TOUR champion and winner of the 2001 PGA Championship and the 2018 U.S. Senior Open, Toms led wire-to-wire and made birdies on six of his last 10 holes en route to winning the Galleri Classic with an overall score of 16-under-par 200 (65-70-65). It is the most recent of Toms’ four PGA TOUR Champions titles, as he became the circuit’s first two-time event winner in 2023.
In celebration of The Galleri Classic’s final round occurring on Easter Sunday (March 31), the event will host an Easter Celebration. This includes a 6:30 a.m. (PT) sunrise service in the bleachers surrounding the 18th green with Pastor Jason Duff from The Garden Fellowship and an Easter egg hunt for children at noon on the driving range in kicking off its Championship Sunday.
In 2024, The Galleri Classic will continue its partnership with six cancer-related, non-profit organizations based in the Coachella Valley – American Cancer Society/Palm Desert, The Desert Cancer Foundation, Eisenhower Health, Hanson House, Pendleton Foundation and Shay’s Warriors Life After Cancer – and will direct a portion of its proceeds from the event to fund these local charities.
The Galleri Classic’s fans play a part in supporting the tournament’s off-course charitable endeavor when securing tickets online at www.TheGalleriClassic.com.
The Champions Club on 18 provides The Galleri Classic’s most sophisticated spectator experience. Day-specific Champions Club tickets (good only during competition rounds March 29-31) can be secured for $350 per day, or Weekly Champions Club tickets (good March 29-31) are available for $1,050.
Limited availability remains for spots in The Galleri Classic’s official Pro-Am on March 27-28 (Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week). The Galleri Classic Pro-Am provides an unmatched opportunity for golf enthusiasts to go inside the ropes for a fantasy-like, bucket-list experience of playing on Mission Hills CC’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course while rubbing elbows with legends of the game. Amateurs interested in playing in the Pro-Am can seek more information and register at www.TheGalleriClassic.com/pro-am.
The Galleri Classic invites those 18 and older who are interested in a behind-the-scenes experience of how a professional golf tournament operates during tournament week (March 25-31) to join its invaluable team of more than 500 volunteers. Those interested in volunteering can learn more about each committee and submit a form of inquiry towards registration at www.TheGalleriClassic.com/volunteers.
Stay updated on The Galleri Classic at www.TheGalleriClassic.com and by following the event on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gallericlassic), Instagram (@GalleriClassic) and Twitter (@GalleriClassic).
About GRAIL
GRAIL is a healthcare company whose mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. GRAIL is focused on alleviating the global burden of cancer by developing pioneering technology to detect and identify multiple deadly cancer types early. The company is using the power of next-generation sequencing, population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to enhance the scientific understanding of cancer biology, and to develop its multi-cancer early detection blood test. GRAIL is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. GRAIL, LLC, is a subsidiary of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) currently held separate from Illumina Inc. under the terms of the Interim Measures Order of the European Commission.
For more information, visit grail.com.
About Galleri®
The Galleri multi-cancer early detection test is a proactive tool in finding cancer early. With a simple blood draw, the Galleri test can identify DNA shed by cancer cells (unique “fingerprints”) to help screen for some of the deadliest cancers that don’t have recommended screening today, such as pancreatic, esophageal, ovarian, liver, and others.** The Galleri test can be used to screen for cancer before a person becomes symptomatic, when cancer may be more easily treated and potentially curable. The Galleri test can indicate the origin of the cancer, giving healthcare providers a roadmap of where to explore further. The Galleri test requires a prescription from a licensed healthcare provider and should be used in addition to recommended cancer screenings such as mammography, colonoscopy, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, or cervical cancer screening. It is recommended for people over the age of 50, or those with an elevated risk for cancer due to genetics, family history, environmental exposure, or other risk factors.
For more information about Galleri, visit galleri.com.
**Editor’s note: Sensitivity in study participants with –
Liver/bile duct cancer: 93.5% overall (100% stage I, 70.0% stage II, 100% stage III, 100% stage IV).
Esophagus cancer 85.0% overall (12.5% stage I, 64.7% stage II, 94.7% stage III, 100% stage IV).
Pancreas cancer: 83.7% overall (61.9% stage I, 60.0% stage II, 85.7% stage III, 95.9% stage IV).
Ovary cancer: 83.1% overall (50.0% stage I, 80.0% stage II, 87.1% stage III, 94.7% stage IV).
About Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians and Casino Properties
Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, are a Chemehuevi people whose traditional territory includes parts of California, Utah, Arizona, and Southern Nevada. In 1867, a group of Chemehuevi settled at the Oasis of Mara in Twentynine Palms, California. The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians are their descendants. Today, the Tribe’s lands consist of two Reservations, which are located adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park and the City of Coachella. Spotlight 29 Casino, Coachella Crossroads and Tortoise Rock Casino are wholly owned business operations of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians. The Tribe continues to focus on providing opportunities of growth and prosperity for their future generations and the overall communities where their Reservations reside. For more information about the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, its culture, heritage, and traditions, visit 29palmstribe.org.
About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 35 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter (@ChampionsTour), on Instagram (@pgatourchampions) and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).
All events are televised in the United States on Golf Channel, the exclusive cable-television partner of PGA TOUR Champions. Internationally, PGA TOUR Champions coverage is available in more than 170 countries and territories via 22 media partners.
