Valspar Extends Title Sponsorship of PGA TOUR's Valspar Championship through 2020

PALM HARBOR, Fla., March 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The PGA TOUR, Valspar Corporation and Valspar Championship host organization Copperhead Charities today announced a three-year title sponsorship extension that will now carry Valspar's commitment to the tournament through 2020. The original agreement was for 2014-2017.

"Since becoming the title sponsor in 2014, Valspar has been instrumental in the tournament's significant growth, including the areas of corporate sales and charitable giving," said PGA TOUR Deputy Commissioner Jay Monahan, who helped announce the extension during a press conference today at Innisbrook Resort, where the Valspar Championship begins tomorrow. "Valspar also has proven to be extremely creative in the way it has incorporated its brand and products into the Valspar Championship and playing up the theme of having the TOUR's 'Most Colorful Tournament.' We are obviously thrilled that Valspar has decided to extend its sponsorship through 2020, as well as its marketing relationship with the TOUR."

In addition to the tournament extension, Valspar will continue its involvement in the TOUR's Official Marketing Partner Program with the exclusive designation as "Official Paint Supplier of the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions." New to Valspar's marketing relationship this season has been its sponsorship of the Caddie Hat Program on the PGA TOUR. Approximately 160 caddies currently wear Valspar-logoed headwear during PGA TOUR tournaments. Valspar looks forward to continuing to grow its commitment to and recognition of PGA TOUR caddies by creating dedicated caddie appreciation events throughout the year at various PGA TOUR events.

"Valspar is pleased to extend our title sponsorship of this exciting tournament that provides a total brand experience for players, fans and the community. Top performance is ingrained throughout Valspar's culture and products – exactly what you see with this event," said Gary Hendrickson, Chairman and CEO of The Valspar Corporation. "Our successful partnership with the PGA TOUR and Copperhead Charities generates significant support for charitable causes important to Valspar. We are profoundly impacting neighborhoods in the surrounding community by helping families, seniors and veterans in need."

The Valspar Championship has been part of the PGA TOUR schedule and held on Innisbrook's Copperhead Course since 2000, although this marks the 40th anniversary of Copperhead Charities hosting a professional golf tournament in Tampa Bay. Those events cumulatively have generated more than $34 million for charity.

Valspar, in partnership with Copperhead Charities, continues its strong support of the Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County through various initiatives as the national paint partner for Habitat for Humanity International. In 2015, the Valspar Championship, Copperhead Charities and Valspar gave more than $70,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County.

"This is a very exciting day for everyone affiliated with the tournament – our Copperheads, tournament staff, Sheila Johnson and her organization at the Innisbrook Resort, and our nearly 2,000 volunteers – as we get ready to start what we believe will be our most successful tournament to date," said Les Muma, General Chairman, Copperhead Charities. "As we complete our first decade on the Florida Swing, the Valspar Championship continues to grow, and along with our management team at Pro Links Sports, we are ecstatic that Valspar has become our first title sponsor to extend its original agreement. Valspar has not only supported the tournament in typical ways you might expect from a title sponsor. The significant national and international corporate support they have generated has helped our tournament add many new fan experiences and increased our local charitable support.  We are looking forward to many more years of our partnership."

Jordan Spieth is defending champion of the Valspar Championship, winning last year's title in a playoff over Patrick Reed and Sean O'Hair on Innisbrook's Copperhead Course. Spieth, the 2015 FedExCup Champion, became the third Valspar Championship winner to reach No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking in the year of his victory, joining Vijay Singh (2004) and Luke Donald (2012).

The players have returned this week to find a number of enhancements and agronomic improvements to the Copperhead Course, including work in and around a number of greens to provide the flexibility of new hole locations, repositioned fairway bunkers and significant improvements to the practice areas.

About Valspar

Valspar is a global leader in the coatings industry providing customers with innovative, high-quality products and value-added services. Our 11,000 employees worldwide deliver advanced coatings solutions with best-in-class appearance, performance, protection and sustainability to customers in more than 100 countries. Valspar offers a broad range of superior coatings products for the consumer market, and highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets. Founded in 1806, Valspar is headquartered in Minneapolis. Valspar's reported net sales in fiscal 2015 were $4.4 billion and its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: VAL). For more information, visit www.valspar.com and follow @valspar on Twitter.

About Copperhead Charities, Inc.

Copperhead Charities history of supporting charities through professional golf dates back to 1977, with funds generated exceeding $34 million. The 2016 Valspar Championship, locally presented by BB&T, is the 16th full-field PGA TOUR event sponsored by the Copperheads. Over 150 Tampa Bay area civic and business leaders are members of The Copperheads.  The tournament is managed by Pro Links Sports with Executive Director Hollis Cavner and Tournament Director Tracy West. For more information, visit www.valsparchampionship.com and follow @valsparchamp on Twitter.

About PGA TOUR

The PGA TOUR is the world's premier membership organization for touring professional golfers, co-sanctioning more than 130 tournaments on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, Web.com Tour, PGA TOUR Latinoamérica, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR China.

The PGA TOUR's mission is to entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back, generate significant charitable and economic impact in the communities in which it plays, and provide financial opportunities for TOUR players.

Worldwide, PGA TOUR tournaments are broadcast to more than 1 billion households in 227 countries and territories in 30 languages. Virtually all tournaments are organized as non-profit organizations in order to maximize charitable giving. In 2014, tournaments across all Tours generated a record $140.5 million for local and national charitable organizations, after surpassing $2 billion in all-time charitable contributions early in the year.

The PGA TOUR's web site is PGATOUR.COM, the No. 1 site in golf, and the organization is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

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