CARY, N.C. – Continuing the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the SAS Championship presented by Bloomberg Businessweek, tournament officials have begun to unveil the ranked order of the top 10 moments in tournament history. Moment No. 10 is sponsor-exemption Mark Weibe’s Champions Tour debut victory at the 2007 SAS Championship. Moment No. 9 is Communities in Schools of Wake County winning the 2003 Champions Tour Charity of the Year award.

The tournament’s top 10 moments were originally released in chronological order on July 28 and were ranked based on votes cast online until Aug. 13 by fans and a Blue Ribbon panel comprised of members of the media who have covered the event over the years and members of the Triangle community that have played an integral part in supporting and growing the SAS Championship.

“We would like to thank our fans and our Blue Ribbon Panel for their votes and great memories of the SAS Championship,” said Tournament Director Jeff Kleiber. “This is the first of five announcements that will be made as we unveil our ranked top 10 moments in the weeks leading up to the tournament. We will unveil the moments two at a time each Wednesday afternoon for the five weeks leading up to the tournament, culminating with the announcement of moments Nos. 1 and 2 during tournament week, Sept. 22.”

Moment 10 – Wiebe turns last-minute sponsor exemption into Champions Tour debut victory (2007)
As the deadline for setting the field for the 2007 SAS Championship draws near, Mark Wiebe is given a last-minute sponsor exemption to play in the tournament and proceeds to make Champions Tour history.

Wiebe, who turned 50 just days before the tournament, outlasts a competitive field to win his Champions Tour debut behind a tournament-record 18-under par 198 and matches Bobby Wadkins as the youngest Champions Tour winner at 50 years, 10 days old.

Wiebe is the first sponsor exemption to win a Champions Tour event since 1999 and the victory ends a 21-year drought for Wiebe as his most recent victory had come on the PGA Tour in the 1986 Hardee’s Golf Classic.

Blue Ribbon Panel Comment:
 “Our sponsor exemptions are due to the Champions Tour at 5 p.m. the Friday before tournament week,” explained Kleiber. “In the week leading up to the tournament, I told Mark that we didn’t have a spot for him, but then one of the golfers we were going to give a spot to actually got into our field on his own. So, at 4:55 p.m. the day the exemptions were due, I had one spot in the tournament I still needed to fill. I remembered Mark and that this would be his first Champions Tour event. I called him and left a message to let him know he was in the field. He called back the next day so excited and then took care of business during the tournament.”

Moment 9 – Communities In Schools of Wake County named 2003 Champions Tour Charity of the Year (2004)
Communities in Schools of Wake County receives $25,000 after being named the 2003 Champions Tour Charity of the Year. The SAS Learning Center in the Kentwood neighborhood of Raleigh is a Communities in Schools facility and was the signature project of the SAS Championship from 2001 through 2009. 

Proceeds from the tournament helped construct two buildings that house after-school programs for neighborhood children. During the SAS Championship, Champions Tour players, their wives, SAS executives, and tournament officials visited the center to celebrate the opening of the facility and then tutored the kids.

Blue Ribbon Panel Comment:
“Supporting the underserved children in our community has been the philanthropic mission of SAS and the SAS Championship,” said Ann Goodnight SAS’ community relations director.  “The establishment of this Communities in Schools facility provides these children a marvelous space for after-school academic programming with caring adults.  We were immensely grateful for the Champions Tour award, and celebrate the impact that the project made and continues to make on these children.”

A Champions Tour golf event, the SAS Championship presented by Bloomberg Businessweek is being held at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, September 20 – 26. Tickets to the tournament can be purchased online at www.saschampionship.com or by calling (919) 531-GOLF (4653). The SAS Championship and Triangle area have become one of the most popular stops on the Champions Tour, annually drawing elite fields and tremendous community support.