Golf greats take a swing at accelerating the effort to end cancer
MD Anderson News Release September 30, 2014
Ben Crenshaw to be interviewed by David Feherty at Dallas A Conversation With a Living Legend®
MD Anderson News Release 09/30/14
Professional golfer Ben Crenshaw is the honoree of the 2014 A Conversation With a Living Legend® in Dallas, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 3 at the Hilton Anatole. Golf commentator David Feherty will interview Crenshaw at the 25th anniversary event. The luncheon, which already has raised $827,500, benefits The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Moon Shots Program, a comprehensive effort to accelerate the fight against cancer.
Chair Deborah Gunter leads a volunteer committee of business and community leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who have secured Andrews Distributing Company and ATT as presenting sponsors.
A gallery favorite
Born and raised in Austin, Ben Crenshaw is one of the most popular and talented players on the PGA circuit. He captured his first major championship title at the 1984 Masters Tournament. His second victory at Augusta in April 1995 secured his place in golf history.
In the mid-1980s, while suffering from Graves’ disease, an immune system disorder, Crenshaw continued to accumulate victories. He finished with 19 on the PGA Tour, including an emotional second Masters victory in 1995, a week after his mentor Harvey Penick’s death.
Crenshaw has won 10 professional events outside the PGA Tour, including individual and team titles in the 1988 World Cup of Golf and the 2009 Wendy’s Champions Skins Game, with Fuzzy Zoeller. He played on four Ryder Cup teams (1981, 1983, 1987,1995) and captained the winning 1999 team. Crenshaw joined the Champions Tour in 2002 and continues to play competitively.
In 1991, Crenshaw received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor bestowed by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship. In 2001, he received the Payne Stewart Award. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.
He also is recognized as one of the most successful golf course architects in America. Crenshaw and his partner Bill Coore have restored some of the finest courses in the country. They’ve built championship courses throughout the United States, including numerous award-winning courses.
One game, two careers
David Feherty, of Dallas, was born in Bangor in Northern Ireland. He grew up with aspirations to become an opera singer until he discovered he had the knack for hitting a golf ball.
Feherty enjoyed a successful professional career, with 10 victories worldwide and over $3 million in prize money. He was a regular on the European Tour, winning the ICL International, the Italian Open, the Scottish Open, the South Africa PGA, the BMW Open, the Cannes Open and the Madrid Open. He captained the winning Irish team in the 1990 Alfred Dunhill Cup and played on the European Ryder Cup Team in 1991.
In 1997, Feherty retired from professional golf when offered a position as a golf commentator for CBS Sports. Through his Troops First Foundation, Feherty stages events involving golf, hunting, bicycling and skiing for wounded Special Forces, Green Berets and other U.S. heroes.
A legendary history
Since its inception in 1990, A Conversation With a Living Legend in Dallas has raised more than
$13.4 million for cancer research and patient care initiatives at MD Anderson.
For more information on this year’s event, call 866-262-9029 or email events@mdanderson.org.