Tim and Holly Finchem at his WGHOF induction in 2022 (Chris Condon/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
In a package of stories published in Monday’s Global Golf Post digital magazine, Holly Finchem — the wife of former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem — revealed in a letter that her husband is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“For so many years, Tim stood with strength, clarity and conviction at the center of the PGA Tour family,” Holly wrote in GGP. “Today, our family wants to share something deeply personal: Tim has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. It is a heartbreaking diagnosis, and one that has changed our lives in ways that are hard to put into words.
“Those who know Tim know the qualities that have always defined him: his quiet strength, his sharp mind, his deep loyalty and his belief that the PGA Tour could be a force for good far beyond the golf course. To watch him face this disease has been painful beyond measure. But even now, the essence of Tim remains present in the moments we treasure most – in his love for our family, his connection to the game and the enduring relationships that have meant so much to him throughout his life. …
“We are grateful for the love, prayers and kindness so many have already shown Tim and our family, and we ask for continued understanding and privacy as we navigate this tender chapter together. While this disease has brought sadness, we remain comforted by the life Tim has lived, the people he has touched and the opportunity to celebrate him in a way that reflects the very best of who he is.”
While the family deals with his heartbreaking diagnosis, it continues to give back to the PGA Tour. GGP also reported that the Finchem’s have given $13 million to PGA Tour Charities to help launch a new philanthropic chapter coinciding with the tour’s new competitive model that begins in 2028.
The mission of the relaunched PGA Tour Charities is to build on the most successful philanthropic model in sports, having generated more than $4.4 billion charitable dollars powered through local tournaments and benefitting more than 3,000 charities in communities that play host to PGA Tour events.
The $13 million gift to PGA Tour Charities carries special meaning for the Finchems.
“The PGA Tour has never been just a career for Tim, or just a chapter in our family’s life. It has been part of who we are,” Holly said in her letter. “For nearly three decades, including more than 20 years as commissioner, Tim poured himself into the tour and into the belief that golf could bring people together, strengthen communities and help those in need. That commitment to charity was never separate from his work — it was at the heart of it.
“That is why this gift to PGA Tour Charities means so much to our family. It is a way to honor Tim’s life, his values and the organization he loves so deeply. It is also a way to look forward — to help ensure that the good he believed in so strongly continues to grow, inspire others and reach more families and communities for generations to come.”
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp is expected to officially annouce the Finchems’ gift and the relaunch of PGA Tour Charities on Tuesday in Atlanta ahead of the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake.
PGA Tour Charities plans to build on that existing localized model and “enhance it with a coordinated, tour-wide platform that can raise and deploy resources, align priorities, engage partners and tell a clearer story of its impact.”
GGP reported that Player Advisory Council chairman Lucas Glover volunteered to lead a select group of veteran players to help guide the new charitable arm of the tour.
“What I grew up with on the tour is the charity and giving back. The philanthropy arm was kind of the focus,” Glover told GGP. “I just feel like the last four or five years it’s been money, money, money in the players’ pockets — which is nice, don’t get me wrong — but I’d like to get some of the focus back on what the tour stands for and what it’s about, and that’s charitable giving and helping the communities that we play in and all those things. It’s not that we haven’t been doing that, it’s just the focus has been lost.”
Rolapp appointed 20-year PGA Tour communications veteran Laura Neal to serve as the tour’s executive vice president of strategic philanthropy.
“What you’re seeing here (with PGA Tour Charities) is not taking one thing and doing another — it’s the tour getting in the charitable game itself,” Neal told GGP. “That requires identifying priorities and establishing campaigns and funding them.
“There’s opportunities to amplify and incentivize the work that tournaments are already doing, but also invest from a national standpoint. So at the end of the day for everybody there’s a bigger lift, regardless of how it’s already working.”
Neal characterized the $13 million gift from her former boss’ family as a “catalyst” for the newly expanded charitable model.
“The ability to be building this and then have the Finchems decide that they trust what we’re building and recommitting to and want to be a part of it, I think is amazing,” she said. “We keep using the word catalyst as this really endorses or shows confidence in the fact that what we have been doing throughout our history and what Commissioner Finchem was a huge part of is what we’re going to build on and go forward in the future.
“We hope that this gives confidence to our fans and our partners and our players that not only are we building something, but we have this endorsement and this momentum built thanks to the Finchems’ generous gift.”
Tim Finchem went into the Hall of Fame alongside Tiger Woods in 2022 (Chris Condon/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
Finchem, 79, retired as commissioner 10 years ago having stewarded the tour through unprecedented growth during the Tiger Woods era. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2022 along with Woods.
“ALS is to the body like (Alzheimer’s) is to the brain,” Holly Finchem told Green. “It’s different in every person afflicted with it. It proceeds in a fashion no one can predict or plan for the pace or the effect. It is terribly sad to lose the person you knew and loved a little bit at a time.”
To help researchers develop treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, consider contributing to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Interesting! Wonder if the outgoing PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan who makes over $20 million will donate?