FedExCup Playoffs help provide better tomorrow thanks to FedEx, One Tree Planted
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![Rory McIlroy chips onto the 17th green during the first round of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)](https://res.cloudinary.com/pgatour-prod/w_854,h_480,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto/pgatour/news/editorial/2024/08/22/bmw-impact-topper.jpg)
Rory McIlroy chips onto the 17th green during the first round of the BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The world’s best men’s professional golfers are in the midst of a run at the PGA TOUR’s ultimate prize, with the FedExCup Playoffs beginning last week and taking place across three different cities.
Hideki Matsuyama raised the FedEx St. Jude Championship trophy in Memphis, Tennessee, and the top 50 players have now made their way to this week’s BMW Championship in Castle Rock, Colorado. The FedExCup Playoffs conclude next week with the season-ending TOUR Championship at historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
These three cities have more in common than hosting the top players vying for the FedExCup.
Thanks to FedEx, each Playoffs host city will have newly donated trees. This donation is made possible through FedEx’s collaboration with One Tree Planted, a nonprofit organization dedicated to global reforestation, supporting urban forestry projects in each of the three FedExCup Playoff markets.
“As a founding member of One Tree Planted's Urban Forestry Fund, FedEx is excited to contribute to a better tomorrow by planting trees in Memphis, Denver and Atlanta," said April Britt, director of global citizenship at FedEx. "The FedExCup Playoffs in all three cities provided us an opportunity to deliver trees where needed most, helping to bring relief from the heat and building healthier communities.”
FedEx and One Tree Planted will work with a local organization in each city for the three projects to plant trees in areas with a need for greater tree canopy or in food deserts, with the plantings taking place later this year and early 2025.
“We are grateful to FedEx for spearheading this project with One Tree Planted,” said Brazos Barber, director of sustainability at the PGA TOUR. “It is inspiring to leave a legacy behind the 2024 FedExCup Playoffs in all three markets by increasing tree canopy and reducing heat in urban areas.”
In each tournament city, FedEx and One Tree Planted will support efforts to plant trees in parks, along roadways and in school yards to enhance the natural environment. Beyond this FedExCup Playoffs campaign, FedEx will also deliver 60 tree planting and conservation projects across six continents this next year.
Today, 4.4 billion people live in cities that often lack green space or trees, leading to hotter temperatures. This is where the FedEx and One Tree Planted projects come in – to aid local tree planting organizations, providing funds and volunteers to help plant trees in urban areas.
“City life comes with a lot of environmental problems, like bad air, flooding, extreme heat, loss of plants and animals and not enough places to enjoy nature,” said Jonathan Mason, who leads One Tree Planted. “These things can really impact people’s physical and mental health. To address this, we’re working with companies like FedEx and the PGA TOUR to plant more trees in urban areas, helping fight climate change and make cities better places to live.”
In Memphis, 50 trees will be planted along pedestrian pathways in local parks, while Denver will plant around 60 trees in Paco Sanchez Park next spring. Both projects will increase shade for pedestrians in public parks. In Atlanta, One Tree Planted will plant around 50 fruit-producing trees in neighborhoods with food deserts.