Planet Golf — 21 August 2014 by GW staff and news services
A fab threesome at the Boeing Classic

SNOQUALMIE, Wa. – Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and NBA All-Star Chris Paul will join World Golf Hall of Famer  Fred Couples in the Thursday morning session of the 2014 Boeing Classic Korean Air Pro-Am.

This will mark the third time in the span of 17 days that Couples and Ballmer will be paired together in a public golf setting. The twosome played together Aug. 4 at the Snoqualmie Showdown against Rick Neuheisel of the Pac-12 Network and Mitch Levy of KJR 950 AM, winning the alternate shot match play contest 6 and 5, and both competed in a closest-to-the-pin competition against members of the Super Bowl XLVIII champion Seattle Seahawks Wednesday at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center (VMAC).

Ballmer officially became the new owner of the Clippers on Aug. 12 and introduced himself to about 4,500 fans at the Staples Center this past Monday. He exchanged high-fives with the assembled crowd as he made his way to the stage and told those fans, “We’re looking forward. Everything is about looking forward.”

After an All-American season in his sophomore year at Wake Forest, Paul entered the professional ranks and was the fourth selection in the 2005 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets. He won the 2006 NBA Rookie of the
Year Award and stayed in New Orleans until 2011, when he was traded to the Clippers. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Paul has led the Clippers to the playoffs in each of his three seasons in Los Angeles.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Couples has entered his hometown Champions Tour event, finishing third in both 2010 and 2013. Couples won the Toshiba Classic earlier this year and finished in a tie for 13th place at the Senior British Open in late July, his first official competition after sitting out two months recovering from a back
injury.

The other two members of the pro-am group are Scott Oki and Zac Keener. Oki is a former senior vice president of sales and marketing for Microsoft, building the company’s international operations and playing a major role in Microsoft’s domestic growth. Keener is the first assistant golf professional and group outings coordinator at Chambers Bay Golf Course, the site of the 2015 United States Open Championship.

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