PGA TOUR member Nick Price today was awarded PGA TOUR’s 2002 Payne Stewart Award. A significant grant presented by Southern Company will accompany the award, which was presented on the 18th green at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, site of this week’s TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

Southern Company is the Official Energy Company of the PGA TOUR and SENIOR PGA TOUR.

The award is named for Stewart, an 11-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including three major championships. Stewart died the week of THE TOUR Championship in 1999.

The award was created by the PGA TOUR Policy Board to perpetuate Stewart’s memory. It is presented annually to a player sharing Stewart’s respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct.

“Southern Company’s core value system and sound business philosophy match Nick Price’s stellar ethics, values, and commitment to charitable giving,” said Southern Company Chairman, President and CEO Allen Franklin. “Nick Price is very deserving of this year’s Payne Stewart Award.”

The inaugural Payne Stewart Award was presented in 2000 to Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Last year’s recipient was Ben Crenshaw.

“Nick Price has earned this honor because of the way he has represented himself and the game throughout his career,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “He doesn’t just talk about integrity, sportsmanship and giving back to others less fortunate, he applies those values in his own life.”

Price, a native of Zimbabwe, has won 16 PGA TOUR events, including two PGA Championships, a British Open and a PLAYERS Championship. He was named the 1993 and 1994 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and has been a member of the International Team in every Presidents Cup competition.

Price also has been active off the course in charitable endeavors. He is a major supporter of the Harare Shelter for Destitutes in his native country of Zimbabwe. This is a program for 150 school-aged children who have lost parents to AIDS, or who are children of the blind. The program provides food, shelter, clothing, medicine, school fees and skills training.

Also in Zimbabwe, he established the Nick Price Junior Golf Foundation. The foundation has two purposes: (a) to provide grass roots development for children in Zimbabwe to learn the game of golf - very similar to The First Tee program; and (b) to provide financial support for children to play golf internationally. Six to ten children are sent overseas each year to play golf.

Closer to his roots on the PGA TOUR, Price established Hearts and Hope in Palm Beach, Florida. This program provides grief support and management to children aged 3-17 who have lost a parent. The program’s motto is, "A place where a child can mend a grieving heart."

In addition to a sculpture presented to the recipient, the Payne Stewart Award is accompanied by an annual Payne Stewart Award Grant presented by Southern Company. The $300,000 grant will support several initiatives in Stewart’s name and be distributed as follows: $100,000 to Payne and Tracey Stewart’s primary charity, The Stewart Family Foundation; $100,000 in Stewart’s honor to The First Tee facility in Missouri, located at Camp Kanakuk, which is affiliated with the “Kids Across America” program; and $100,000 to a charity designated by Price.

The nominating panel for the Payne Stewart Award included the current Chairman of the TOUR’s Player Advisory Council (Hal Sutton), the Chairman of the TOUR’s Policy Board (Dick Ferris), the current President of the USGA (Reed K. Mackenzie), the current President of the PGA of America (Jack Connelly), the Chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club (Hootie Johnson), the current President of the Golf Writers Association of America (Mike Purkey, Golf Magazine), the current President of the PGA TOUR Tournaments Association (Tom Hartley), and past recipients of the Payne Stewart Award (Nelson, Nicklaus, Palmer and Crenshaw).