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EMILY TAYLOR: Welcome to Aronimink. We are all very pleased you could join us today. My name is Emily Taylor, and I am the vice president of communications for the AT&T National.
I'd like to begin today by recognizing and thanking our title sponsor, AT&T, along with all of our supporting tournament sponsors and the media for joining us here today.
I would also like to thank the members and board of Aronimink Golf Club, along with the people of Newton Township for their generous hospitality for being our host for 2010 and 2011.
At this time I would like to introduce the president of Aronimink Golf Club, Mr. David Boucher, for a few remarks.
DAVID BOUCHER: Thanks very much. My name is David Boucher, I'm president of Aronimink Golf Club. It's my great honor and privilege to be president. It's my second year, having succeeded Mike Higgins, who is our tournament chairman for the AT&T.
On behalf of myself, the officers, governors, members, welcome to AT&T National Media Day. As all of you probably know, especially if you played this morning, we have a Donald Ross gem of a golf course. We have had a number of outstanding events here in the past, including the PGA, U.S. Amateur, the Junior Amateur and the Senior PGA, and now topping that off with the AT&T National in 2010 and 2011.
So thanks to our sponsor, AT&T, and other sponsors, the tournament is going to showcase Aronimink bringing professional golf back to the Philadelphia marketplace, which is so exciting for us and for everybody who lives and plays golf in this region. This tournament also carries the mission of the PGA Tour and Tiger Woods Foundation by providing charitable funding for Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia, Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, and of course the Tiger Woods Foundation.
For those of who you played the golf course this morning, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm sure it was challenging with the wind up. We are hoping that a combination of fast greens, wind, high rough is going to provide some entertainment for our players and also entertainment for our spectators.
So again, welcome to AT&T National, welcome to Aronimink, thanks for coming today. Special thanks to Tiger Woods for coming today. Thanks, Tiger.
EMILY TAYLOR: Next I would like to welcome our 2009 defending champion, Tiger Woods.
Tiger, welcome to Philadelphia. What do you think about being here?
TIGER WOODS: Well, it's great to be here, first off. Hard to believe we are wearing sweaters.
Today, this morning, actually was a great morning. I got a chance to go down and visit the Honickman Learning Center that Jon Bon Jovi, his Soul Foundation is involved in. Just absolutely phenomenal what they are doing down there. Very similar to what we are doing out in Anaheim, but with the live-in component because of the homelessness and the problems that that causes. And seeing the kids and how excited they were about going to college for the first time, where they are going; it's just really neat to see that people like Jon are taking the initiative to do these great things, and it's one of the reasons why we have come here, to try and do the same things that the Boys & Girls Club and what Jon is doing here for the kids.
We are excited to be here with AT&T and Aronimink. This golf course is hard. So I think it will be playing right about 7,200 yards, par 70, and it will be quite a test being at an old Donald Ross golf course. And I think all of the players will thoroughly enjoy it. Right now the greens are up to speed. And this early in the season; still got eight more weeks, so it's going to be fun.
EMILY TAYLOR: Thanks, Tiger.
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