The Wounded Warrior Project – Phoenix Operations received a $13,500 donation as a Waste Management designated charity in the Shot at Glory competition during the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open. The Wounded Warrior Project’s purpose is to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured servicemen and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs.

Keep Phoenix Beautiful also received a $13,500 donation from the 2013 WM Phoenix Open Shot at Glory competition as a Waste Management designee. Keep Phoenix Beautiful is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. They have been active in Phoenix since 1982 to involve and educate residents about recycling management and beautification practices.

Audubon Arizona received a $2,500 donation from the tournament and Thunderbirds in support of Arizona Bird Sanctuaries. Funds will be used to build artificial burrows at Phoenix’s Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area for burrowing owls displaced due to urbanization of their homes.

“We’re happy to support these and other fine charities with funds raised through the Waste Management Phoenix Open,” said 2013 Tournament Chairman Tom Altieri. “This is just a small sample of the charitable funds we’ll donate through the tournament. Whether it’s helping a wounded soldier returning from war through our support of the Wounded Warriors Project, keeping our community looking gorgeous with Keep Phoenix Beautiful or finding homes for burrowing owls, we’re here to make a difference in our community.”
The 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open will be played January 27 – February 2, 2014, at the TPC Scottsdale. The tournament host Thunderbirds have raised more than $80 million for charities, with more than $50 million generated since 2004. The 2014 edition will mark the 79th playing of the event, making it one of the five oldest events on the PGA TOUR (not including the major championships). For more information on the Waste Management Phoenix Open, visit wmphoenixopen.com.

The spring grant cycle submission deadline is March 1, 2014.

A charitable organization may only apply once within the fiscal year. Thunderbirds Charities fiscal year runs June 1st – May 31st.

We will make two versions of the Application Form available for your convenience in both Microsoft Word and PDF versions. Please don’t forget to check the Thunderbird Charities web page in early August 2013 to download and submit your grant application.

“We spend months and countless hours each year preparing for the Waste Management Phoenix Open,” said Jim Wentworth, Thunderbird. “But, at the end of the day it’s the ability to give something back to great organization and not the weeklong success of the tournament that makes it all worthwhile. The smiles I saw on these athletes’ faces as they cross the finish line will keep me coming back for years to come.”

While, this is the first one for Arizona it is not the first in other states. Over the past 3 years, communities across the county have launched Giving Days focused on generating increased online donations to local nonprofits. Some efforts were focused on a single communities and others did a state wide campaign. Minnesota was the first in Nov 2009 and over the 3 years has raised $46 million for their community. Colorado launched in 2010 and raised $12 million the 2nd year. Other days have been held in Seattle, San Diego DC, Northern Texas, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Nevada and other areas.

The Arizona Gives Day project team has created an Ambassador Toolkit to assist you in getting the word out about Arizona Gives Day to your contacts. The Ambassador Toolkit is available on our website – www.arizonanonprofits.org at our Arizona Gives Day — Promotional Resources Page.

www.valleylifeaz.org

www.facebook.com/valleylifeaz

Phil Mickelson’s 5-iron shot sailed long and right on the par-3 seventh, stopping an inch from the fringe and leaving him in danger of losing at least a stroke to playing competitor Brandt Snedeker.

Mickelson ended up leaving Snedeker shaking his head and went on to complete a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open

Fifty-five feet away, with a mound and a 20-foot swath of fringe between his ball and the hole, Mickelson decided to putt through the taller grass rather than chip over it. He had caddie Jim Mackay remove the flagstick so that it wouldn’t deflect the ball if it had too much speed, a move that proved wise when the ball raced into the cup.

“The challenge of that was to judge the speed where half the putt is through fringe and half is on the green,” Mickelson said. “I got lucky to have made it, obviously. I was just trying to two-putt it. It was going fairly quickly when it got to the hole, probably would have been 6, 8 feet by. With Brandt in there close, that was a big momentum change.”

Snedeker joked with Mickelson for a moment before holing his own birdie putt.

“Are you kidding me?” Snedeker said about his reaction to the putt. “I fully expected Phil to hit a flop shot from there. He didn’t have much of a putt, and he putted through it.

“I hit a great shot in there close and I thought, `Hey, I can get one on him here and put some pressure on him.’ He makes that, and he let me hear about it before I putt, and he let me know that I needed to make that to tie. We had fun with it. That’s Phil being Phil.”

Mickelson shot a 4-under 67 to finish at 28-under 256, two strokes off the PGA TOUR record of 254 set by Tommy Armour III in the 2003 Texas Open. The 42-year-old former Arizona State star won after struggling the last two weeks — tying for 37th at La Quinta in his opener and 51st at Torrey Pines — and making news by talking about tax increases.

Mickelson moved to No. 3 in the race for the FedExCup after earning 500 points for his victory at TPC Scottsdale.

“It’s an important one for me, because it’s been a while since I won, been a while since I’ve been in contention,” Mickelson said. “I was certainly nervous heading into today. I think the thing I’m most excited about was the way I was able to regain control of my thoughts after a few shots early on that I didn’t care for.”

Mickelson missed a chance for a 59 in the first round when his birdie putt on the final hole caught the right edge of the cup, curled 180 degrees and stayed out. He settled for a 60 and followed with rounds of 65 and 64 to take a six-stroke lead into the final round.

“I think that sets up the tone for the rest of the year, because I really started to play well,” Mickelson said. “But for me, the rest of the year took a turn on Tuesday when I got my new driver. It just changed my whole deal.”

Snedeker, the reigning FedExCup champion and current FedExCup leader, finished second, four strokes back after a 65.

“Sometimes you have to tip your hat and say, `Phil played unbelievable and deserved to win,’” Snedeker said. “That’s kind of what this week was all about.”

Mickelson took a three-stroke lead to the 17th tee, and nearly drove into the left-side water on the drivable par 4, his ball stopping a yard short of the hazard. He flopped his second shot 15 feet past the hole and made the birdie putt.

Mickelson parred the par-4 18th after another drive to the left, one that easily cleared the water he hit into Friday en route to a double bogey, and Snedeker closed with a bogey.

Mickelson had his third wire-to-wire victory and first since tMaking his 24th appearance in the event that he also won in 1996 and 2005, Mickelson tied the tournament scoring record set by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001, and joined Calcavecchia, Arnold Palmer and Gene Littler as the only three-time winners. With six victories in Arizona, Mickelson also matched Johnny Miller’s TOUR record.

After three nearly cloudless days in the Valley of the Sun, the final round was played in overcast conditions. Light rain even fell for a few minutes as Mickelson finished warming up on the practice green and played the first hole.

After the rain stopped, Mickelson bogeyed the par-4 second and birdied the two front-nine par 3s, pulling off the sensational putt on No. 7.

Snedeker pulled within three strokes with a birdied on the par-4 9th, but Mickelson pushed the advantage back to four with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 13th, his fourth straight birdie on the hole. Snedeker saved par after his drive stopped under jumping cholla, forcing him to take a drop for an unplayable lie.

Mickelson matched Snedeker on the next two holes, saving par on the par-4 14th with a 10-foot putt and two-putting for birdie on the par-5 15th. Snedeker pulled within three again on the par-3 16th, hitting to 5 feet on the stadium hole, and matched Mickelson’s birdie on 17.

Snedeker was coming off a second-place tie Monday at Torrey Pines, four strokes behind Tiger Woods in the fog-delayed event.

“I’m running into Hall of Famers every week,” Snedeker said.

Scott Piercy shot a 61 to finish third at 23 under.

“These greens were amazing,” Piercy said. “If you got it online, rolling, you made it.”

DIVOTS: The crowd Sunday was estimated at 58,791 for a weekly total of 525,821, short of the record of 538,356 set in 2008. … Mickelson was a course-record 9 under on the four par-3 holes and hit 63 of the 72 greens in a regulation. He has a 10-year winning streak, the longest active run on the tour, and has victories in 20 seasons, third behind Sam Snead (24) and Jack Nicklaus (21). Mickelson is ninth on the career victory list, four behind No. 8 Walter Hagen. Lefty also led wire-to-wire in 2005 at Pebble Beach. he 2006 BellSouth Classic — a 13-stroke blowout the week before the second of his three Masters victories. He pushed his victory total to 41, winning for the first time since 51 weeks ago at Pebble Beach — where he will go for a record-tying fifth victory next weekend.

Mickelson’s remarkable 28-under par, also helped the field break the lowest scoring average record three times, including the 1st Round (69.015), 4th Round (68.527) and Overall Cumulative Scoring Average (68.954).

In addition to Mickelson and the field’s record-setting performances, the tournament also set attendance records during Friday’s 2nd round (121,901) and Saturday’s 3rd round (179,022).

Here’s a closer look at all of the records that were either tied or broken during the 2013 Waste Management Phoenix Open:

Low Back 9 at TPC (TIE):
29: Phil Mickelson, 2013 (1st round)
29: Rickie Fowler, 2011 (2nd round)
29: J.J. Henry, 2006 (2nd round)
29: Scott Verplank, 1998
29: Grant Waite, 1996

Low 18 (TIE):
60: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC (1st round)
60: Phil Mickelson, 2005, TPC (2nd round)
60: Mark Calcavecchia, 2001, TPC
60: Grant Waite, 1996, TPC

Low first 36 (TIE):
125: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC 60-65
125: Mark Calcavecchia, 2001, TPC 65-60

Low 54 (TIE):
189: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC 60-65-64
189: Mark Calcavecchia, 2001, TPC 65-60-64

Low last 36:
125: Scott Piercy, 2013, TPC 64-61
128: Vijay Singh, 2003, TPC 65-63
128: Lee Janzen, 2002, TPC 64-64
128: Lanny Wadkins, 1982, Phoenix CC 63-65
128: Billy Casper, 1971, Arizona CC 66-62
128: Gene Littler, 1969, Arizona CC 62-66
128: Aaron Baddeley, 2007, TPC 64-64

Low consecutive 54 (TIE):
189: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC 60-65-64 (1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds)
189: Mark Calcavecchia, 2001, TPC 65-60-64 (1st, 2nd & 3rd rounds)

Low 72 (TIE):
256: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC 60-65-64-67
256: Mark Calcavecchia, 2001, TPC 65-60-64-67

Most Under Par on Par 3’s at TPC since 1987
-9 Phil Mickelson, 2013
-7 Chris DiMarco, 2003
-7 Scott Hoch, 2003

Most strokes under par for 72 holes (TIE):
28: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC
28: Mark Calcavecchia, 2001, TPC

Most Players Lower Than 20-Under Par at TPC
4 – (2013) Phil Mickelson (-28), Brandt Snedeker (-24), Scott Piercy (-23), Ryan Moore (-22)
2 – (2007) Aaron Baddley (-21), John Rollins (-20)
2 – (2003) Vijay Singh (-23), John Huston (-20)
2 – (2001) Mark Calcavecchia (-28), Rocco Mediate (-20)

Lowest 1st round:
60: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC
62: Steve Jones, 1997, TPC

Lowest start by winner:
60: Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC
62: Steve Jones, 1997, TPC

Three-time Phoenix Open Winners (TIE):
Phil Mickelson: 1996, 2005, 2013
Mark Calcavecchia: 1989, 1992, 2001
Gene Littler: 1955, 1959, 1969
Arnold Palmer: 1961, 1962, 1963

Largest Leading Margins:
After 18 holes: 4 shots, Phil Mickelson, 2013, TPC

Lowest Cut Number at TPC (TIE):
2013 4-under par (138)
2003 4-under par (138)

Lowest Scoring Averages (For the Field)
2013 1st Round: 69.015
2013 4th Round: 68.527
2013 Overall: 68.954

2013 Attendance Records:
2nd Round (Friday) 121,901
3rd Round (Saturday) 179,022