La Quinta High product Anthony Kim commits to Humana Challenge; Smokey Robinson, Alice Cooper, Julius Erving among new celebrity field entries

Humana Challenge celebrities also include musician Michael Bolton and actors Craig T. Nelson, Billy Crudup and Lucas Black; Celebrities will play golf at Palmer and Nicklaus Private Courses at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club Jan. 19-21

LA QUINTA, Calif.– The fame factor from the professional golf and celebrity worlds intersects at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation and continues to heighten, as La Quinta High School product Anthony Kim, musicians Smokey Robinson and Alice Cooper and basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving have joined the field at the Coachella Valley’s annual PGA TOUR golf tournament Jan. 16-22.

Kim joins a professional player field that already includes four-time major championship winner Phil Mickelson, World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman and 2011 FedExCup winner Bill Haas, among many other accomplished names.

Robinson, Cooper and Erving join a star-studded 2012 celebrity field that also includes musician Michael Bolton and actors Craig T. Nelson, Billy Crudup and Lucas Black. Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman and Oscar nominee Don Cheadle were previously announced as participants in the Humana Challenge’s celebrity field.

“Adding Anthony to our field is a terrific boost with less than a week to go before we open the gates, as we know there is a tremendous amount of interest in him due to his ties to the Coachella Valley,” Humana Challenge Tournament Chairman Larry Thiel said. “Add in some of the world’s most famous and talented entertainers and these are tremendous additions to what is becoming a great field of players and personalities that I’m sure will excite our fans.”

Kim is expected to draw large galleries due to his local ties and his exciting, aggressive style of play. He has played in his home event twice before, as a rookie in 2007 and in 2008, when he shot five rounds in the 60s and tied for third.

A three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Kim’s best season of his young career came in 2008, when he won the Wachovia Championship and the AT&T National while earning six other top-10 finishes, totaling more than $4.6 million in earnings – good for sixth on the money list – and finishing fourth in FedExCup points. Kim was a member of the U.S. teams at the 2009 Presidents Cup, 2008 Ryder Cup and 2005 Walker Cup.

Robinson, the music icon known as the “King of Motown” and a 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and American actors Freeman, Crudup and Black are making their first appearances in the tournament.

Freeman won a 2005 Oscar (Best Supporting Actor) and Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Million Dollar Baby, and won a Golden Globe Award (Best Actor) for his part in Driving Miss Daisy. Crudup won a Tony Award on Broadway and has appeared in Almost Famous and Public Enemies, portraying J. Edgar Hoover. Black has starred on the big screen in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and on television in American Gothic and Friday Night Lights.

Cooper, the heavy metal rock legend who last year was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and launched his 26th album (“Welcome 2 My Nightmare”), has played in the tournament each of the past 14 years, save 2005. Bolton, a Grammy and American Music Award winner who has two Billboard No. 1 singles to his name, has a long history with the event, debuting in 1999 and playing each year from 2001-09.

Cheadle, a Best Actor Oscar nominee for his role in Hotel Rwanda who has starred in Traffic and Ocean’s Eleven and now appears on Showtime’s House of Lies, golfed in the event in 2003, ’07 and ’08. Nelson, best known for his Emmy Award-winning role on Coach and currently starring on television’s Parenthood, will play for the sixth time (all since 2004). Erving – a 1983 NBA champion, 1981 NBA MVP, 11-time All-Star and slam dunk icon affectionately known as “Dr. J” during his career with the Philadelphia 76ers (1976-87) – is playing for the second consecutive year and sixth time overall.

Humana Challenge tickets, beginning at $25, can be purchased online at www.humanachallenge.com, by calling 1-888-672-4673, by visiting Lumpy’s (the “Official Golf Retail Partner” for the Humana Challenge) in La Quinta and Rancho Mirage, or by visiting Albertson’s grocery stores in the Coachella Valley.

Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas joins Mickelson, Norman, Haas, 2001 PGA Championship winner David Toms, 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, World No. 11 Matt Kuchar, 20-time PGA TOUR winner Davis Love III and 2008 Masters champion Trevor Immelman among the early professional commitments for the tournament.

Last year in the desert, Vegas shot 27-under-par 333 in regulation and became the first of six PGA TOUR rookies to win in 2011 by outlasting Haas and Gary Woodland in a two-hole playoff. Vegas became the third consecutive player to win his first PGA TOUR title at the event, joining Haas and Pat Perez (2009).

For the third consecutive year, the event previously known as the Bob Hope Classic will take place entirely within La Quinta, where players will compete for a $1.008 million winner’s check at La Quinta Country Club and the Palmer and Nicklaus Private Courses at PGA WEST. Its $5.6 million purse and winner’s check are the largest in event history.

The Humana Challenge features 144 PGA TOUR professionals and 144 amateurs, including celebrities. The first three rounds (Jan. 19-21) of the four-day tournament will be played in a pro-am format, with each pro-am team consisting of one professional and one amateur and each group consisting of two professionals and two amateurs.

In a twist from years past, the field of celebrity golfers will be divided among the three golf courses each day. Sunday’s final round (Jan. 22) will feature professionals only.

This year’s tournament continues to honor and celebrate the legacy of Bob Hope by awarding the new Bob Hope Memorial Trophy to its champion. Live event coverage airs on Golf Channel (12-3 p.m. PST on Jan. 19-20; 1-4 p.m. PST on Jan. 21-22).

Tournament week is designed to bring the idea of “participatory wellness” to life for people of all ages and will feature a first-ever national conference focused on health and well-being on Jan. 17, entitled Health Matters: Activating Wellness in Every Generation and highlighted by a keynote address from President William J. Clinton.

The Palmer Private Course at PGA WEST will host The Bob Hope Legacy Pro-Am on Monday, Jan. 16 and The Couples Team Challenge Pro-Am on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

During the past 52 years, the event has generated more than $50 million in donations to the Eisenhower Media Center and charities within the Coachella Valley.

The Humana Challenge is proud to offer the latest tournament information, stage contests and give away tickets and other prizes through its new Facebook page – www.facebook.com/HumanaChallenge – and Twitter page – www.twitter.com/HumanaChallenge (@HumanaChallenge). The Humana Challenge encourages the community, golf fans and tournament patrons to become fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter.

About Humana Inc.
Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.2 million medical members, 7.1 million specialty members, and operates more than 300 medical centers and 240 worksite medical facilities. Humana is a full-service benefits and well-being solutions company, offering a wide array of health, pharmacy and supplemental benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals, as well as primary and workplace care through its medical centers and worksite medical facilities. Over its 50-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio. More information regarding Humana is available at www.humana.com.

About the William J. Clinton Foundation
Building on a lifetime of public service, President Bill Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to improve global health, strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods, and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and private citizens to turn good intentions into measurable results. Since 2001 President Clinton’s vision and leadership have resulted in nearly 4 million people benefiting from lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment; more than 13,000 U.S. schools building healthier learning environments; more than 26,000 micro-entrepreneurs, small business owners, and smallholder farmers improving their livelihoods and communities; more than 3 million meals to schoolchildren in Colombia; and more than 2.2 million tons of greenhouse gases cut or abated in some of the world’s largest cities. And President Clinton has redefined the way we think about giving and philanthropy through his Clinton Global Initiative, whose members have made more than 2,100 commitments that have already improved the lives of nearly 400 million people in more than 180 countries. For more information, visit www.clintonfoundation.org

About Desert Classic Charities
Desert Classic Charities is dedicated to serving human needs in the Coachella Valley with funds generated by operating the Humana Challenge, one of the premier celebrity pro-am golf events in the world. Funds generated from the tournament (formerly the Bob Hope Classic) are used to support the Eisenhower Medical Center and as many as 40 additional local charities.