Waste Management Phoenix Open raises record $10M for charity

PHOENIX — The annual Waste Management Phoenix Open raised more than $10 million for charity this year, the group behind the golf tournament announced Tuesday.

The Thunderbirds said this year’s tournament raised a record $10,147,441 that will be given to charitable organizations.

“We’ve got the biggest and greatest golf tournament in the world. We’ve got the most engaged community there is,” tournament chairman Andy Markham said. “When we do things, we like to do them big, including give big dollars to really deserving charities.”

This year was the eighth straight year the Thunderbirds broke their own record for the amount raised at the tournament.

“We’re very fortunate to host a golf tournament and 95 percent of the dollars we’re able to give away to charity comes from hosting a sporting event,” Markham said.

A good amount — $500,000 — of this year’s total was signed over in a check to Phoenix Children’s Hospital on Tuesday.

“The Thunderbirds have made the largest single gift of any organization this past year to Phoenix Children’s Hospital and helped us with this construction project of a new emergency trauma center,” Steve Schnall, the PCH Foundation vice president and chief development officer, said.

In its 85-year history, the Thunderbirds group has raised a total of $122 million.

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