Country music star Jon Pardi performs at Military Appreciation Day program at THE PLAYERS

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THE PLAYERS Championship honored both active military members and veterans on Tuesday night with a Military Appreciation Day program that featured a special concert by country music artist Jon Pardi.

The ceremony kicked off at 5 p.m. on the Island Green 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. In addition to hosting the music icon, THE PLAYERS donated two check donations to Veterans Legal Aid and the Five Star Veterans Center for $25,000 and $50,000, respectively. The checks were presented by PGA TOUR golfer Rickie Fowler, who won THE PLAYERS in 2015.

The Military Appreciation Day program also included pageantry by military personnel, a flyover by the 125th Fighter Wing of the Florida Air National Guard and a national anthem performance by the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus. In addition to Pardi and Fowler, special guests at the ceremony included Jay Monahan, PGA TOUR commissioner; Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Chris Dempsey, representing Five Star Veteran Center.

According to the PGA tour website, Jon Pardi joins a long list of notable country music stars to appear at the Military Appreciation Day Ceremony, including Tim McGraw (2010), Darius Rucker (2011), Luke Bryan (2012), Dierks Bentley (2013), Jake Owen (2014), Big & Rich (2015), Toby Keith (2016), Sam Hunt (2017) and Luke Combs (2018).