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The latest initiative is called “Birdies for Survivors.� For every birdie that a player makes on the par-4 15th hole at La Paloma Country Club during this year’s event (March 7-9), the tournament will donate $1,500 to sponsor a survivor and enable that person to attend the 2026 Cologuard Classic.

Exact Sciences provides grants to 17 cancer advocacy organizations to help “patients, survivors and loved ones come here to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ to celebrate survivorship, to be together and to be here at the tournament,â€� Bryan Goettel, the director of advocacy and alliance relations for Exact Sciences, said during a news conference Thursday at La Paloma.

“Those grants are not enough to meet the demand of who wants to be here.�

Last year, the tournament started the to help offset travel costs for those hoping to attend the tournament. Those donations helped 10 patients and survivors make it to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, Goettel said.

When Cologuard first sponsored ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s PGA Tour Champions event in 2018, “we had about a dozen patients, survivors and caregivers that were part of tournament week,â€� Goettel said. Last year, that number reached 327, coming from 32 states and three countries, according to Goettel. The current count is 320 people from 37 states.

Those numbers should increase via “Birdies for Survivors.� Jerry Kelly, who serves as an ambassador for Cologuard, birdied the 15th hole — aka “Survivor Central� — in all three rounds last year en route to a tie for second place. Competitors made 37 birdies in all.

“When you get to Survivor Central and you see the sheer amount of people that this tournament has brought together ... it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck,� Kelly said. “I know exactly what hole I’m on. I know exactly what I want to do.

“The most passionate people on the golf course are right there. That meant an awful lot to me.�

The Cologuard Classic also pairs cancer survivors, patients and caregivers with professionals during the tournament. Last year’s champion, Joe Durant, played in honor of Amanda Meckstroth, a Stage 4 colorectal cancer patient. Before he teed off in the final round, Meckstroth told Durant that she would walk with him on the hilly course for “as many holes as I can because I want to see you win.�

“It really kind of choked me up because I’m thinking, ‘Here’s someone that’s really battling something way bigger than all of us, and she’s so brave,’� Durant said.

“Something came over me when she said something to me on the first tee that last day — like I had a spirit with me. I was gonna do my best. Whether I won or lost, it almost didn’t even matter, because this was so much bigger than golf.�

Durant found out whom he’d be paired with in this year’s event on Thursday. The names of survivors, patients and loved ones who’d lost family members — and who were in the audience — were drawn from the Conquistador helmet that goes to the tournament champion.

Durant pulled the name of Jasmin Mejia, who’s from the Phoenix area. Mejia lost her mother to colon cancer when she was 42 years old.

Her mother’s name was Deysi — pronounced “daisy.�

“My mom’s name was Daisy, also,� Durant said.

“Oh my gosh,� Mejia said. “Thank you so much.�

Music, too

In conjunction with the tournament, Rillito Park will host concerts on March 7 and 8.

The March 7 concert will feature three artists from the 1980s and ’90s: Vanilla Ice, Rob Base and Tone Loc.

The March 8 headliner is rock/country artist Koe Wetzel. The opening acts are country singer Dylan Marlowe and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ alternative folk-rock band Sophia Rankin & The Sound.

Military members can attend the March 8 concert for free by obtaining digital vouchers via .