January 4, 2010--Justin Timberlake is a major headline celebrity superstar, and his powerful brand, according to a recent survey, has helped bring world-record awareness to the Shriners Hospitals for Children. The singer-actor-writer--etc. annually hosts Las Vegas' PGA Tour event, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and according to the Daily Beast survey, he has helped bring in more than $9 milllion worth of media exposure to the Shriners' cause.

Timberlake was the top celebrity--as ranked out of a listing of the top 50 celebrities in the world--and garnered an estimated total of $9,262,381 in total awareness from stories in United States media outlets. Second on the list was Madonna at $5,540,068 and Pamela Anderson was third with $4,840,168 while media behemoth Oprah brought in an estimated $3,939,870 to finish 4th in the survey. U2 singer Bono was fifth with a little more than $3 million. Due to the results in the survey, the website WorldRecordsAcademy.org certified Timberlake's impact as a world record for media exposure by a celebrity for a charity. The Daily Beast website claimed that the survey was the most indepth survey of its kind ever undertaken.

"Here’s how we calculated our rankings," the writers from The Daily Beast are quoted as saying in the article. "First, we chose 50 of the biggest celebrities in the world who are allied with a nonprofit, either as a member of its board or advisory committee, an ambassador, or the face of a campaign. These names represent a healthy cross-section of fame and influence. While many celebrities support more than one charity, we only judged the primary charity for each celebrity—this exercise is designed to see how much impact a celebrity has on a specific nonprofit, rather than how charitable they are overall, or how much they contribute awareness to a more all-encompassing cause." Click now for a link to the entire story and survey.

The Las Vegas Golf Region is continually home to big-time golf events including the Timberlake PGA Tour event and the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge, a Las Vegas golf event played at Rio Secco Golf Club that benefits the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Three-player teams from the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and Champions Tour play in that event. Also, the annual Tiger Jam, a celebrity event benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation, has been played in Las Vegas, but currently that event is unscheduled for 2010 as the saga surrounding Woods plays out. Tiger Jam has not been officially canceled, however. Rhodes Ranch Golf Club also recently hosted an event for the Rodeo Hall of Fame where some of the best cowboys in the world teed it up at the course.

In addition to major events, Las Vegas is the home to more than 50 golf courses designed by the biggest names in golf. The Timberlake tournament is played at TPC Summerlin, a private Las Vegas golf course owned by the PGA Tour. The sister course to TPC Summerlin is TPC Las Vegas, a Las Vegas resort golf course that has played host to events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. Click now to view the official website of TPC Las Vegas and to learn how you can play this course that is also owned by the PGA Tour.

The Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind international health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative medical research and outstanding teaching programs. Children up to age 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services at no charge – regardless of financial need. The Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open brings awareness and raises dollars for this cause, and is the official PGA Tour event that is a part of the Fall Finish on the PGA Tour. The event is scheduled to played October 118-24, 2010 at TPC Summerlin. Martin Laird is the defending champion.