FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 29th, 2013
BIG BREAK MEXICO COMPETITORS BATTLE FOR LARGEST GRAND PRIZE IN SERIES HISTORY
More than $100,000 in Cash and Prizes on the Line – Including PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour Exemptions – for Winner of Golf Channel’s Reality Competition Series
12 Professional Golfers – Six Men and Six Women – to Compete in a Mixed Team Format at IBEROSTAR Playa Paraiso Golf and Spa Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico
Meet the Cast on Big Break Mexico Preview Show, Wednesday, May 1 at 9 p.m. ET
11-Week Series Premieres Monday, May 13 at 9 p.m. ET
ORLANDO, Fla., (April 29, 2013) – The largest grand prize in the history of Big Break will be up for grabs when Golf Channel’s longest running reality-competition series tees up its 19th season Monday, May 13 at 9 p.m. ET. Big Break Mexico will feature a cast of 12 professional golfers looking to put his or her career on the fast track, competing for a sponsor exemption to either the PGA TOUR’s OHL Classic at Mayakoba or the LPGA Tour’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Banamex and Jalisco (both Nov. 14-17) and more than $100,000 in cash and prizes.
In addition to the tournament exemption, the ultimate winner also will receive $50,000 in cash; an endorsement contract from Adams Golf, which includes an additional $10,000 in cash; $5,000 in cash from Dick’s Sporting Goods; $10,000 in car rental credit courtesy of Avis Car Rental, $15,000 in travel credit from Travelocity; and an all-expense paid return trip for two to the all-inclusive, adults-only IBEROSTAR Grand Hotel Paraiso in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The winning team on Big Break Mexico also will receive $30,000 in cash courtesy of Macanudo.
Featuring a cast of six men and six women competing as three mixed-gender teams, Big Break Mexico will include a new series format, new challenges, twists and surprise guest appearances. The teams will compete in a variety of golf challenges per episode, with the ultimate goal of knocking the others out of the competition. In a new format twist for this season, eliminations will not take place every week. Losing teams at the end of early episodes will earn “strikes,” with a surprise elimination showdown taking place during the course of the series. The series eventually will shift to single eliminations, with the last person standing – male or female – being crowned Big Break Mexico champion.
The competitors on Big Break Mexico are:
Lindsey Bergeon, 26, Sarasota, Fla.
Taylor Collins, 23, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Matthew Galloway, 27, Tampa, Fla.
McKenzie Jackson, 24, Scottsdale, Ariz. / Uniontown, Ohio
Stefanie Kenoyer, 24, Lighthouse Point, Fla.
Liebelei Lawrence, 29, Nideranven, Luxembourg / Nashville, Tenn.
Brent Long, 28, Dallas, Texas / Carthage, Tenn.
Chad Schulze, 34, Cockeysville, Md. / Lebanon, Pa.
Jason Seymour, 36, Los Angeles, Calif.
Emily Talley, 22, Boulder, Colo. / Napa, Calif.
Rob West, 41, Peoria, Ariz.
Jay Woodson, 31, Richmond, Va.
Golf Channel’s Tom Abbott and Stephanie Sparks return as co-hosts for the series.
Produced in partnership with Mexico Tourism Board and filmed at IBEROSTAR Playa Paraiso Golf and Spa Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico, the series will unfold on the resort’s P.B. Dye-designed, 18-hole championship course – IBEROSTAR Playa Paraiso Golf Club – a par-72 layout featuring breathtaking signature holes and distinctive rock work that are signatures of a typical P.B. Dye design. Carved out of the ancient Mayan jungle, the IBEROSTAR Playa Paraiso Golf Club features narrow fairways, deep bunkers and extreme vertical movement, along with untraditional hazards, such as a rock riverbed that make the course distinctively unique to the area.
Big Break Mexico also will feature a guest appearance from former LPGA World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, who surprised the cast during the filming of the series and competed alongside the players in one of the challenges. Following the challenge, Ochoa also was given the opportunity to participate in Big Break’s signature challenge for the first time – The Glass Break – where she shattered the glass on her first attempt.
The Big Break show concept pits highly skilled golfers against each other in a variety of challenges that test their physical skills and mental toughness. Past Big Break champions have won tournament exemptions to compete on some of the world’s top professional circuits, including the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Web.com Tour and Canadian Tour. Mark Silvers, Big Break Greenbrier champion, will compete in the 2013 Greenbrier Classic on the PGA TOUR as a result of his victory in 2012.
Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, Big Break VII: Reunion champion and PGA TOUR professional, captured his first PGA TOUR victory in 2012 at The McGladrey Classic and is playing full-time on the PGA TOUR. Several other past Big Break competitors are currently competing on the world’s top tours, including Matt Every (PGA TOUR), James Nitties and Mark Silvers (Web.com Tour) and Kim Welch, Nicole Smith, Gerina Piller, Kelly Jacques, 2011 Solheim Cup team member Ryann O’Toole and 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup Team member Kristy McPherson (LPGA Tour).
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Follow Big Break on Twitter @BigBreak
About Golf Channel
As the fastest-growing network on television, Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and part of the NBC Sports Group, is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies. As part of the NBC Sports Group, professional golf coverage on NBC is branded “Golf Channel on NBC,” further extending the Golf Channel brand to NBC’s broadcast audiences. Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platform of businesses is led by www.GolfChannel.com, a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf.
About Mexico Tourism Board
The Mexico Tourism Board (MTB) brings together the resources of federal and state governments, municipalities and private companies to promote Mexico’s tourism attractions and destinations internationally. Created in 1999, the MTB functions as an executive agency of Mexico’s Tourism Secretariat, with autonomous management and the broad participation of the private sector. The MTB has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
About IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts
IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts is a family-owned Spanish hospitality company with more than 50 years of experience in the travel industry. IBEROSTAR provides unique vacation experiences, rooted in superior customer service and quality, in the world’s most popular vacation destinations. With more than 100 hotels in 16 countries, IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts is committed to offering excellence in quality and service and providing personal attention to each guest.
For more information, please visit iberostar.com.
-NBC Sports Group-
