This is a great achievement by the tournament organizers and especially its volunteers. The PGA players deserve a lot of credit but lets not forget the thousands of volunteers who help put on such great tournaments and enable organizers to put more money towards assisting local charities.

You can find the full article by Garry Smits at http://jacksonville.com/sports/golf/2009-11-02/story/record_charity_for_players, with an excerpt below.

(Excerpt)

Record charity for Players;  Event will donate more than $4 million to local charities today.

Despite a recession, The Players Championship officials will announce a record for charitable giving today at the first of a series of events during “Giving Back Month,” at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse.

The Players will donate $4.15 million to more than 100 Northeast Florida charities from proceeds raised by the 2009 Players Championship that was won by Henrik Stenson.

That exceeds the 2008 total by $1.15 million and brings the total charitable donations to the First Coast from The Players to more than $35 million in the history of the event.

It also comes just a few months after PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem conceded that overall charitable giving through PGA Tour, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour events might decrease, after years of steady increases. Final figures for 2009 aren’t yet available, but The Players Championship appears to have more than done its part.

“Obviously, we’re proud of our 2,000 volunteers, our Players Championship staff and the fans who made this possible,” said Players executive director Jay Monahan. “To be able to increase charitable giving at a time when the economy is challenging for everyone is an amazing accomplishment.”

(The article continues at http://jacksonville.com/sports/golf/2009-11-02/story/record_charity_for_players)