(Duluth, Georgia, April 1, 2008) -- Charles Howell III, winner of the 2007 Nissan Open, will play in the 2008 AT&T Classic, May 12-18 at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth. Howell, along with 155 more of the world's best players, will compete for a first prize check of $990,000. Now in its 40th year, the 72-hole PGA TOUR event offers a total purse of $5.5 million and has contributed more than $16 million to local charities over the years. Here are some quick facts on Howell:

• In 2007, Howell enjoyed one of the best years of his seven-year career. He came out of the gate with a second place tie at the Sony Open in Hawaii highlighted by a second round 63. Two weeks later he battled Tiger Woods down the stretch at the Buick Invitational in San Diego and finished solo second. Those were a prelude to his performance at the Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club where he topped Phil Mickelson in a playoff for his second career win. Overall he would collect five top 10s which led to an 18th place finish in both money ($2,832,091) and FedExCup points (98,051).


• Howell's first win occurred in 2002 at the Michelob Championship in Virginia where a final round 67 led to victory. He finished in the top 25 in half of his 2002 starts including a solo second at The TOUR Championship. He also began to establish an outstanding track record at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles (site of his second TOUR win) where he fired a front nine 28 in the third round.


• In 2001 Howell earned the TOUR's rookie-of-the-year in a very unusual fashion. He began the year playing on sponsor exemptions before earning special temporary member status. His money total of $1,520,632 ranked first among non-members. In 24 starts he made 20 cuts and recorded five top 10s. His best finish was a playoff loss at the Greater Milwaukee Open.


• The Augusta, Georgia native played college golf at Oklahoma State University where he won the 2000 NCAA Champion and was a two-time first team All-American. He received both the Jack Nicklaus and Fred Haskins Awards as the top college golfer in the country.


• Howell played on his second Presidents Cup team last year, compiling a 2-2-0 record.

Candidates for the Nancy Lopez Award, presented annually to the world's top women amateur golfer, are Amanda Blumenherst (Duke University and last year's winner of the award), Stacy Lewis (University of Arkansas), Sydnee Michaels (UCLA Jane Rah (Torrance (CA) High School, Melissa Reid (Derbyshire, England) and Maria Jose Uribe (UCLA).

Any active duty military personnel and one guest (plus his/her children under 12) will be admitted to the AT&T Classic free of charge. They'll simply need to present a valid military ID confirming their active-duty status.