Why are the golfers wearing yellow ribbons? PGA Tour pros at the memorial

Spain's Jon Rahm held his nerves to claim victory at the Memorial Tournament on Sunday as he replaced Rory McIlroy at the top of the world rankings. However, the final round viewers of the Memorial Tournament noticed a number of golfers wearing a small yellow ribbon on their caps. With the peculiar yellow ribbon on the hats of the golfers, the question 'Why are the golfers wearing yellow ribbons at the memorial?' stumped many. 

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Why are the golfers wearing yellow ribbons at the memorial?

During the final round of the PGA tour, a number of viewers wondered, 'why are the golfers wearing yellow ribbons at the memorial'?. All the answers around the golf yellow ribbons point towards the founder of the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus. The reason behind golfers wearing yellow ribbons was simply a sign of respect for the tournament's host. 

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Jack Nicklaus' influence at the Memorial Tournament is second to none. From designing the golf course, setting up the entire tournament, and ensuring that the manual leader boards are operated around the course during tournament week, there’s hardly any aspect of the Memorial Tournament event that Nicklaus hasn’t impacted. In return, those competing in the event wore the yellow ribbons as a sign of appreciation and respect for everything that Nicklaus has done for the sport. 

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Golf yellow ribbons: Jack Nicklaus and wife Barbara launch Play Yellow campaign

Only last year, Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, helped launch the “Play Yellow” campaign. The Play Yellow campaign was launched in conjunction with the PGA Tour and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH) in a bid to raise funds for issues that insurance programs don’t cover. The couple's initial goal is to raise $100 million in a span of five years. During the 2020 Memorial Tournament, Jack and Barbara requested the golfers to sport the ribbons and wear yellow to support the cause.

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The colour yellow became sentimental to Nicklaus over 50 years ago when he met Craig Smith, the 10-year-old son of Barbara’s minister, who was a big fan of the golfer. In 1968, Smith was diagnosed with rare bone cancer, which eventually led to his unfortunate demise three years later. Nicklaus ofter spoke with Smith and after one of his PGA Tour victories, Smith told Jack that he knew he would win because he was wearing his “lucky” yellow shirt at the time. Since then, the colour yellow has become a signature look for Nicklaus.

Image Credits - Memorial / PGA Tour Twitter