"The concept started in Florida up through Georgia and into South Carolina, particularly Myrtle Beach," says Mike McNeil, VP of Marketing for Hooters of America Incorporated. "A lot of golfers were coming into the restaurants, using that as their 19th hole. That was back when we had maybe eight, nine or 10 restaurants in our whole system. They'd come in, look at pretty girls, drink a cold beer and eat some wings after a round of golf."

That was the springboard to bigger and better things. More and more Hooters franchises started springing up through the U.S. and Canada. And Hooters' connection with golf blossomed. Hooters wanted to take it to the next level, but the PGA seemed out of reach to a company that was spreading its wings, but was still small in numbers.

"The idea of spending $5 million (for a PGA event) seemed way beyond our means," says McNeil, who grew up playing golf and feels fortunate to have played such legendary tracks as Pinehurst No. 2, Augusta and St. Andrews.

Hooters hooked up with a developmental tour, originally titled the Jordan Tour. The NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour was born and it's been a huge success. The tour has spawned future pro stars like 2007 Masters champ Zach Johnson, 2003 PGA champ Shaun Micheel, 2003 British Open champ Ben Curtis, 2003 U.S. Open champ Jim Furyk, Lee Janzen, Tom Lehman, David Tomas and Chad Campbell.

"Our attitude was instead of sponsoring one tournament a year, we'll sponsor 20," says McNeil. "When Chad Campbell stands up as a winner, someone will bring up that he's the all-time leading money winner on the Hooters Tour. Or when Zach Johnson puts on the green jacket, he'll say, 'I got a bunch of chicken wings and the first cheque I cashed was on the Hooters Tour.' "

Golf involvement aside, Hooters is much more than beer, wings and girls in tight orange shorts. The company has also been a great booster of causes, with a conscious and admirable effort to back charity. That social conscience, says McNeil, is an integral part of what Hooters stands for.