It appears a fill-in PGA Tour event in Columbus, Ohio, could be a test run for a future event hosted by NBA star Steph Curry.
Muirfield Village Golf Club will play host to back-to-back PGA Tour events in July — a one-time event July 9-12 followed by the Memorial Tournament July 16-19 — according to a memo sent to tour players Tuesday and obtained by Golfweek.
That tournament, to be held without fans, will have a 156-player field. Its title sponsor is Workday, which provides software services for finance and human resources.
Curry is tied to Workday and a proposed new event in California. The event could be considered a “test run” for that event. (UPDATE: A previous version of this article said that Curry would be directly tied to this year’s Columbus event, but someone with intimate knowledge of the situation has since said it’s more a test run for a future event with Curry.)
Memorial Tournament director Dan Sullivan confirmed that Muirfield Village will host the extra tournament.
The Memorial will follow with the 120-man field afforded to invitational events, but it has not been determined whether fans will be allowed.
It is not known what role Memorial Tournament founder Jack Nicklaus will play in the new tournament, which the tour created to take the place on the schedule of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois. That tournament was canceled last week over concerns with the pandemic.
Playing a second straight tournament at the same site will allow the Tour to maintain a safety “bubble” for players, keeping them in at the same venue for two weeks.
Curry has long embraced his love for golf, and has played in numerous events.
The NBA star brought golf programs to life at Howard University, an NCAA Division I school in Washington, D.C. Curry announced in August he was committed to funding men’s and women’s teams at the university for six years beginning with the 2020-21 academic year.
He also has shared his love for trick shots:
This isn’t the first time Curry has been tied to a PGA Tour event, but a previous partnership fell through.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Tour nixed plans for a proposed Curry-hosted event that had previously seemed to be gaining steam toward being on the calendar in the 2019-20 season.
There looked to be a viable host in Lake Merced Golf Club after members approved course upgrades and a title sponsor also appeared in the offing. The event was expected to be slated for September 2019 (with Sept. 19-22 held open).
