Southern Company (NYSE:SO) renewed its relationship as a partner of the PGA TOUR Championship in an agreement that pushes the partnership to the 2027 tournament.
Southern Company joins Accenture and The Coca Cola Company as partners in the PGA Tour’s season finale in Atlanta and the East Lake Gold Club from August 24-28 to determine this year’s winner of the FedExCup.
“Southern Company has been integral to the success of the TOUR Championship and its ability to give back to the local Atlanta community, but their involvement goes far beyond the season finale from its sponsorship of the illustrious Payne Stewart Award to its longstanding support of First Tee and its annual impact on youth around the country. We are grateful for Southern Company’s continued commitment to the PGA TOUR and look forward to building on what has been a successful partnership,” said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR executive vice president of marketing and corporate sponsorships.
Southern Company is an energy company serving 9 million customers via its subsidiaries. The company has its fingers in a lot of energy related ventures. A few examples include using electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company serving wholesale customers across the United States, a distributed energy infrastructure company, fiber optics network and telecommunications services.
This is the company’s seventh year sponsoring the TOUR championship and has supported the event since its first playing at East Lake Gold Club in 1998. Southern Company has been involved in the tournament’s all-time charitable contribution of more than $42 million, and maintains its designation of official marketing partner of the PGA Tour.
Each year during the tour, Southern Company presents the tour’s annual Payne Stewart Award, which is given to the player that best exemplifies character, charity and sportsmanship. This comes with a $500,000 grant, with $200,000 going to charities connected to the Stewart family and $300,000 designated by the winner. The company has contributed USD$8.9 million to community charities in honor of Payne Stewart and others getting his award.
This year’s recipient is Billy Andrade, who will be the twenty-fifth PG Tour player to get the award since it was devised in 2000. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel between 7-8 p.m. from the Southern Exchange in Atlanta.
