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WGC MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP

February 19, 2020

Mexico City, Mexico

THE MODERATOR: It is my pleasure to welcome you to another edition of the World Golf Championships in Mexico City. Year after year, they are here to have quite a show, and a show that has undoubtedly been part of the heart of Mexicans and it has allowed the Mexican golf community to increase.

It is our pleasure to introduce our guests today. We have Benjamin Salinas Sada of Television Azteca; Ty Votaw, executive vice president of the PGA TOUR; Abraham Ancer, Mexican player that is also qualified here to the WGC championship; Carlos Ortiz, Mexican player that also qualified to the WGC in Mexico. Welcome.

This is a press conference that is very special. We're happy to have two Mexicans for the very first time in this tournament. This is going to have a very important impact for children that will come to enjoy it.

(Video shown.)

As you may know, this tournament is one of the most important ones worldwide, and it is better to now give the floor to Ty Votaw, executive vice president from PGA TOUR.

TY VOTAW: It's a privilege to be here for this very special World Golf Championship event. We're proud to welcome the best of the best from around the country. We are thrilled and proud to welcome the best from around the globe, as we do every year, with players this year representing 19 different countries from around the world. We're especially pleased and appreciative of the presence of both Abraham and Carlos here at the podium today and in the field this year.

Last summer, the PGA TOUR announced a new eligibility criteria for the WGC Mexico Championship that states if the highest ranked player from Mexico is otherwise exempt, then the next highest ranked player will also become eligible so long that player was in the top 300 in the world. Today we all get to see and celebrate the result of that new criteria with both Abraham and Carlos in the field this week.

Abraham, you certainly made us look smart by doing that because you qualified the day before we made the official announcement, so thank you for that. And congratulations on an incredible year that culminated in your first Presidents Cup appearance in Melbourne late last year, which saw Mexico represented for the very first time. Congratulations with that.

Carlos, who has attended this event the past few years as a fan, we're extremely proud of your start to the season and the opportunity ahead of you to compete in this championship. I'm sure you'd like to -- the last time you competed in a PGA TOUR event in Mexico, you finished second, so hopefully the same kind of excitement can result from this week.

Abraham and Carlos are testaments to the fact that Mexican golf is in very capable hands. Not to look too far ahead, but the 2020 summer Olympics in Tokyo is just around the corner. Four years ago Mexico fielded just one player, and with these two players here, if things were to stop today and the eligibility were to be established, they would both be in the field for the Olympic men's golf competition, which is very exciting for this great country.

This tournament was brought to Mexico City four years ago by the vision and commitment of Grupo Salinas and Ricardo and Benjamin Salinas especially, with the goal of inspiring the next Abraham Ancer and the next Carlos Ortiz in a country that has room to grow. But we're very excited about the possibility.

We want to thank the great work of those with the First Tee of Mexico, which was also part of the announcement four years ago. The organization has continued to open new chapters and is positioned to impact countless youth for years to come.

Just yesterday, 12-year-old Christian Hernandez, a member of the Puebla chapter of First Tee of Mexico was given the opportunity of a lifetime to rub shoulders with defending champion Dustin Johnson. Dustin presented Christian with a customized putter as a gift, and the two spent time together putting on the practice green and swapping words of encouragement and putting tips.

Interactions like the one with Christian had with Dustin is certainly one he will never forget as he works toward his own aspirations in the game. And we at the PGA TOUR are proud that this tournament can provide the platform for inspirational moments like Christian's to take place.

Finally, our thanks go out to Benjamin and your entire team. This is a golf course and a tournament that our players have developed an enormous appreciation and respect for, and we look forward to again showcasing Mexico to the world through yet another exciting competition. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Ty. Carlos, I have a question for you. I know playing in your country is a special motivation, but aside from that, playing with these special group of the best golfers in the world is a great opportunity, and you are playing a great golf course. This is definitely the time to do it.

CARLOS ORTIZ: Yes, I'm so happy to be here. As Ty was saying, I think attending this event as a fan and as a golfer is very hard because you really want to play, and from the outside it doesn't actually look that great. You always want to be on the inside of it.

So I'm very happy with this opportunity that I got in order to be able to play, and at this time I'm going to try to do as much as I can, and it is always a great gift to play with the people that loves me.

THE MODERATOR: Of course, and you're going to have support from every Mexican. Abraham, very nice to say hello, and we love that you qualified. Apart from that, you have already settled a very clear path for the Mexican children and youngsters that already know that in golf they can find a great path to their formation as people.

ABRAHAM ANCER: Thank you very much. This is my favorite week of the year. I love to play with my people, of course, and obviously the hospitality here in Mexico cannot be compared to anywhere else, but I'm very happy to be here.

It was one of my dreams as a child to be able to be part of this TOUR, and I'm very thrilled to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Well, welcome. We are very pleased to have you here, and you know you have all the support from everybody. Benjamin, this is the fourth edition of this great tournament, and while the results have been fantastic, the impact of the tournament has had an impact worldwide which is just sensational.

BENJAMIN SALINAS: Yes, we are definitely happy to have this fourth edition. If I'm honest, this was very fast, and now we're about to go to the next half. I would like to mention some things.

First of all, welcome, each one of you. You are all very welcome. Before doing anything else, I would like to thank my friend Abraham for everything that he has done for the First Tee, for all his achievements and for everything that is coming your way, obviously the Masters, and it is really an honor for us to have you here with us on this podium.

Thank you to Ty Votaw, my friend from PGA TOUR and from all of the staff from PGA TOUR that are here with us, and thank you, as well, to the more than 1,000 volunteers that are helping us every day to make this dream possible, and to be able to make this true, making golf grow in Mexico. We welcome this fourth edition of the WGC Mexico Championship, and once again, Abraham and Carlos for making history. We're very proud of you for being here, and as Mexicans, we're proud of you representing us.

When this dream started three years ago, we set this goal, and today it is an honor for us to be hosts of these events -- this world-class event and to be fostering these interests and passions around this sport, mostly in children.

Today we have with us some of the best golfers in the world. We have four out of the five best ones. We have around 42 out of the best 50. We just have the best players in the world.

Today golf in Mexico is stronger than ever. We have two Mexican players among the best in the world competing together for the first time in this type of tournament. The best of luck to both of you, and all Mexico is supporting you this week.

At First Tee of Mexico, we have managed to foster the sport and the values that come with it, with children and youngsters. We started this with eight chapters, hundreds of kids involved in this program participating, boys and girls, and I would like to announce that we have already opened our ninth chapter in Monterrey, and we're expecting to close the year with 10 chapters, and the idea is to have thousands of children working in our program, and congratulations to Agustin Piza for everything he has done with the First Tee.

Apart from that, according to our commitment to develop golf in Mexico, we have an alliance with Pro Links and will open golf academies here in Mexico City. We are also working with PGA of America to bring Mexico the best golf instructors so that they can help us form the future generations of Mexican golfers. I really want to thank especially my friends Chad Evans and Hollis Cavner for being a main part of this project. They are really a main part of the Mexico Championship.

As I have already mentioned before, this tournament has not only managed to increase Mexicans' interest for golf, but it has also managed to put our name high. I would like to thank all the media that is right here with us for taking this message and taking this tournament to more than 226 countries and regions, and what I would really like to say is that this event for us is much more than just a golf event. We do it each time better, and this year won't be the exception.

Thank you very much, and please enjoy it.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you to you for bringing this experience to Mexico. Abraham, while talking about the First Tee and talking about the impact that this has had in the children, you have a special announcement.

ABRAHAM ANCER: Yes. Well, actually by listening to Benjamin and saying that he is about to announce the ninth chapter of the First Tee, and we had the experience when last year we met Valeria and she was part of the First Tee, I realized that golf in Mexico is really growing, and First Tee I believe is the most important way of doing it.

Now I am in a position where I can help in some ways, so I would like to announce a way that maybe I can help the First Tee. This is going to be a little donation for First Tee Mexico. I really, really hope that this can help with the 10th chapter maybe, but obviously you have done an incredible job.

THE MODERATOR: Maybe if you can step down so that we can see this donation clearly. (Check presented.)

Thank you very much, Abraham, because that doesn't only say a lot about your commitment towards children but also that you believe in Mexican children and youngsters and you know the path. You have to start it with opportunities, and you are doing just that.

ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, and apart from that, golf is only a part of it. Also the values and everything that they can be taught is very important for life generally speaking, so I believe that this is the best way that we can make golf grow in Mexico and of course children are the most important part.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much for your commitment, and now we're going to start with a question-and-answer session. Right now since we have Benjamin here and Ty, we're going to take questions regarding the tournament, and afterwards we will stay with Abraham and Carlos so we can talk about more sports topics.

Q. It is inevitable to mention that WGC has been a pioneer and it has a lot to do with the evolution of golf in the country. How do you feel about being the leader of all of this evolution?
BENJAMIN SALINAS: Well, look, the truth I have to say that I am very proud of at least being able to participate in this effort. Obviously this is a joint effort of the thousands of volunteers that we have here, of everybody that is here from the entire world, of the players that come, and they dedicate a week of their time to be here, and of course we are in a position to be able to help and to generate this interest, but the main access, and we shouldn't get confused with that, is to have youth development, and everything that we're doing is for children. That's why always children will be here for free. I'm very proud to say that First Tee can be maybe just a little help so that we can help children that may be from scarce resources or have scarce resources to have an introduction to golf. But that is only a part of everything that we want to do. We need public courses.

I've said this many times, and we are going to keep fostering that idea. We need academies and we need golf generally to be available for everybody, and that is what we are trying to do, generating passions and interests with this tournament, so I am very proud.

Q. For Ty, how does the PGA TOUR see the development of golf here in Mexico, with the Mexican players, with Abraham's donation and all that means?
TY VOTAW: Well, I think it's a reflection of what Benjamin and Ricardo Salinas did four years ago and coming and talking to us about the possibility of bringing a World Golf Championships to Mexico. From the minute we started to talk about this possibility, we were struck by how excited and how committed they were to making this happen, and no one knew what the future held when we had those discussions other than the fact that we were coming here, and the fact that four years have now gone by, and every year has built upon the success of the previous year is a testament to their vision and their commitment, and the fact that we now have nine First Tee facilities with a hope and a goal for 10 by the end of the year, and we have two Mexicans in our field is just another indication of the momentum that we're having from what transpired four years ago when we first had those conversations.

For us, we want to grow the game around the world. We want -- one of the reasons we were so supportive of golf in the Olympics was because we thought this would be able to grow the game in all ports of the world, and certainly what we're doing with PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, as well, is consistent within this region how we want to have that grow, and these two gentlemen here and of course Benjamin are a real reason for that success.

Q. Benjamin, today the professional sport is helping us a lot to promote sports here in Mexico. I am just asking how this tournament can help in many parts of the world to talk about the Mexico that we want to have.
BENJAMIN SALINAS: Well, yeah, totally. That is a great point. That is why we feel so proud, because evidently, they say it every day, we see it with the players, and they're here, and they say, wow. This city is amazing. Their families want to come here. They want to be here, not just to compete but also to have fun, and they live with a very nice memory, and that goes to the whole world, and that's part of the good news of our country, and that is some of the news that sometimes we're not communicated around the world, and that's also part of what we want to do here, to have a week that we can also teach what Mexico is, what we are capable of, how great our city is, and of course to try to stop giving that much importance to all of the bad news that has also been told about our country.

There are many positive things about our country, and we're so proud that at least this week in the week it can be a week that Mexico is something that everybody is talking about in a positive way.

Q. Which do you see as more important for the development of golf among youth in Mexico, access to courses they can play, or multiple players like Abraham and Carlos and others whose success they can follow?
BENJAMIN SALINAS: Well, I think that the first part of it is interest. We need to generate interest in youth. So that's why we started with this WGC. We wanted to bring the best and have all these kids watch these idols play, and wanting to be like that.

Then we need to start figuring out the rest and filling in the blanks. So there's academies, there's access to golf, there's high performing academies, there's competition, amateur competition. So we're going to build on that, and that's the idea.

But as you said, I think the first part of it is to generate interest in kids.

AGUSTIN PIZA: I have the honor to be in charge of First Tee Mexico and I am just going to share a piece of information. In 2015, Abraham and Carlos, I asked them for a favor, just to go to Tijuana and give a conference when they were first competing, and they went, they gave this conference, they talked to these children and they did it wholeheartedly without asking for anything in exchange.

Five years later, the fact that we can see a full circle carried out and that you give this donation, I know that you're doing it wholeheartedly. Thank you very much, Abraham, Carlos. We are definitely going to go get as much as we can, and thank you again for supporting First Tee. (Applause.)

THE MODERATOR: I would also like to thank special authorization for Benjamin to be here. We have 200 children from all around the country. They are all active golfers, and they come knowing that this is going to be the first day that they're going to see their great idols, and they are going to be telling them, see, look they are hitting the shots 10, 12 times, so thank you so much for your generosity and what it means to so many people.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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