The Sanderson Farms Championship, Mississippi’s stop on the PGA Tour, received welcomed news Wednesday on the day of its annual pro-am event.
Allen Exploration, the Dallas-based presenting sponsor for the pro-am, signed on to sponsor the Wednesday pro-am through 2026, which matches Sanderson Farms’ 10-year commitment to the $4.1 million PGA tournament.
“As long as Joe (Sanderson) is involved, we will be, too,” said Carl Allen of Allen Exploration.
Allen Exploration pursues and funds a wide range of ventures including emerging technologies in life sciences, agriculture, rare mineral mining, virtual reality and neural engineering.
“We are ecstatic that Carl has stepped up with a generous show of support of the championship and our philanthropic endeavors,” said Joe F. Sanderson, Jr., CEO and Chairman of the Board of Sanderson Farms. “We appreciate his commitment to both our state and its children.”
Allen Exploration’s 10-year commitment to sponsor the pro-am is unprecedented in the nearly half-century history of Mississippi’s only PGA Tour tournament.
Rick Cleveland, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Hattiesburg American, Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger as a reporter, editor and columnist.
He was executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Rick has authored four books and has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year.
He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2016 and into the Hattiesburg Hall of Fame in 2018. He received the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence in 2011 and was inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi Communications Hall of Fame in 2018. In 2000, he was honored with the Distinguished Mississippian Award from Mississippi Press Association. He has received numerous state, regional and national awards for his column writing and reporting.
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