PR Newswire
07/09/03, 4:17p
(Copyright © 2003, PR Newswire)

DEARBORN, Mich., July 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the Ford Senior Players Championship at the Tournament Players Club of Michigan, McDonald's Corporation made a $50,000 donation to Driving 4 Life, a Cambridge, Mass.- based fundraising organization campaign started by Tom Watson, Bruce Edwards and Jeff Julian in support of research into treatment and a cure for ALS.

Edwards, caddy for professional golfer Tom Watson, was diagnosed in January with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease. Julian, a PGA TOUR professional member, was diagnosed in the middle of the 2001 PGA TOUR season with the same illness.

The longest-running golfer-caddy partnership on the PGA TOUR/Champions Tour, Watson and Edwards have raised significant public awareness for a disease that kills most patients within two to five years of diagnosis. ALS attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary movement. When nerve cells can't send impulses to the muscles, the muscles begin to waste away, causing increased muscle weakness.

"We are so grateful for the support and donation that McDonald's has made to Driving 4 Life," said Edwards. "Research makes all the difference in the world and this generous contribution will go a long way in helping us find a cure."

"We're proud to contribute to this important cause," said Mike Roberts, President McDonald's USA. "So many of us at McDonald's are avid golfers and fans, that it is my hope that this donation will further raise awareness and encourage people to contribute, not only in the McDonald's system, but in the public and corporate sectors as well."

The Ford Senior Players Championship is the third of five majors on the Champions Tour (formerly known as the Senior PGA TOUR), and is the third major championship tournament in a row for Tom Watson and Bruce Edwards. They played in the PGA TOUR'S U.S. Open and were in the lead after the first found. They finished second in the U.S. Senior Open June 26-29.

"It's great to see a corporation like McDonald's step up and make this commitment," said Tom Watson. "We need to find a cure for ALS and corporate donations like this one make more research possible."