The PGA Tour and Coca-Cola on Wednesday said the beverage giant has signed a new five-year deal to remain the official soft drink of the tour and extended its support of the Tour Championship tournament at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club.
The Tour Championship is the capstone event of the PGA’s FedEx Cup playoff and will return Aug. 23-27 to the historic East Lake course. Coke was the tournament’s presenting sponsor from 2002 to 2015. Southern Company and Coke have served as “proud partners” since 2016, with accounting and consulting firm Accenture joining the two Atlanta-based companies as the top-billed sponsors in 2022.
“The PGA Tour is delighted to continue our partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, which has played a crucial role in the growth of the Tour Championship and how we impact the tournament’s proud Atlanta home,” said Brian Oliver, the PGA’s executive vice president of corporate partnerships.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
The PGA said the Tour Championship, since its inception, has donated more than $48 million to charity, including $5.5 million last year. Coke also was a key player in the Tour Championship Charity Challenge, a nine-hole exhibition that started in 2020 that pairs celebrities, tour pros, First Tee participants and athletes at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The charity challenge raised more than $1.3 million last year in addition to the funds raised by the tournament, the PGA said.
The storied East Lake Golf Club was founded in 1904 and opened in 1908. In the 1990s, legendary Atlanta developer Tom Cousins acquired the golf course, which had fallen on hard times. Cousins and his East Lake Foundation set about redeveloping not only the course but the nearby East Lake Meadows public housing community.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Now known as the Villages at East Lake, the mixed-income community is held up as a national model for public-private partnership.
“We’re proud to continue our support of the Tour Championship and its positive impact on our hometown Atlanta community,” said John Murphy, Coke president and chief financial officer. “For more than two decades, Coca-Cola, the PGA Tour and fellow corporate partners have proudly built upon the legacy of East Lake Foundation founder, Tom Cousins.”
