Johnnie Walker
Classic Selects Venue

TravelGolf.com Staff Report

Perth, Western Australia (MAY 21, 2001) - United Distillers and Vintners, joint owner of the Johnnie Walker Classic, Asia Pacific’s premier golf tournament, today announced that the 2002 event would be held at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, in Perth, Western Australia from 24 to 27th January 2002.

The competition, twice won by Tiger Woods, is organised jointly between Johnnie Walker and IMG, with support from the Western Australian Government. It offers a minimum of £800,000 in prize money (approx A$2.2 million), making it Australia’s richest golf tournament.

Founded in 1928, Lake Karrinyup has twice been the venue for the Australian Open (won by Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player) and the Western Australian Open (won by Greg Norman). The club has 1780 members and, before it was redesigned and lengthened in January this year, had a course record of 66.

Stephen Morley, global brand director for Johnnie Walker commented, "Our announcement today of this great venue is just the beginning of the story for the 2002 Johnnie Walker Classic. We are looking forward to a fantastic and a very different type of golfing event. The Johnnie Walker advertising all over the world celebrates the progress that people make in their lives. Through this event we will celebrate the amazing achievements of some of the world’s best golfers."

Western Australian Tourism Minister Clive Brown said the announcement was great news for tourism in Western Australia.

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"Global television coverage of the Johnnie Walker Classic will create greater awareness of the state and its international-standard golf courses and facilities.

"The tournament provides us with an opportunity to promote golf tourism to Western Australia, particularly in the key markets of Japan and South East Asia. “

The players competing in the 2002 event will be announced in the coming months.

Background

The Johnnie Walker Classic is Asia Pacific’s premier golf event, now in its 11th year. It is tri-sanctioned by the Europe, Australasia and Asia Tours. Previous events have been won by Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman.

Johnnie Walker is the world’s number one Scotch whisky with annual sales of approximately 10 million nine litre cases. It is owned by Guinness UDV, of Diageo one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies. Formed in December 1997 through the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness. Diageo has an outstanding portfolio of world famous food and drinks brands.

IMG is Australia’s and the world’s leading sports marketing company. Founded by Mark H. McCormack in 1960, IMG now operates more than 100 offices in 35 countries, and employs in excess of 3,000 staff.

IMG manages most of the world’s best golfers – Tiger Woods, Karrie Webb, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, David Duval, and a wide range of Australians including Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby and Adam Scott. In Australia, IMG is joint or outright tournament promoter for the Ericsson Masters, the Holden Australian Open, the AAMI Women’s Australian Open, Perth International and the Coolum Classic.