Justin Timberlake Takes A Swing At Childhood Illness

Justin Timberlake continues to solidify his good guy image with his latest foray into charitable do-gooder territory. He hit Sin City on Monday but it was for an angelic cause. Timberlake took to the links for the first day of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

The tournament ends Sunday but not before Timberlake joins Rihanna, The Jonas Brothers, Adam Levine, and others for a charity concert on Friday. Proceeds will benefit an international health care system that provides specialty pediatric care.

Timberlake, who started playing the sport about 5 years ago, says he looks forward to melding two of his favorite things.

"The partnership with the Shriners came about when I was trying to get involved with the PGA TOUR because I'm such a fan," Timberlake said. "And the Vegas spot seemed like a good fit for me and for celebrities alike, and it was already a Pro-Am, so we tacked onto that and obviously in the process we got involved with the Shriners, who is the beneficiary of the tournament. And so it's great."

But he says he's still coming to grips with his name bolstering the event.

"I don't think it's really hit me yet," he said. "I sort of had a glimpse of it when I saw the first logo on one of the flags...I was kind of like, 'Wow, this is really happening.' It's kind of been a small dream of mine to host an event. The first time I ever played a Pro-Am in golf was at the Bob Hope in the desert. I had a great time. I thought to myself, it would be amazing if one day I could be able to, A, host an amazing event and, B, raise some money for charity. The Shriners Hospital, obviously we're going to do some great things for them in raising money with this week coming up in October. So I'm excited. I'm really, really excited about it."