Jack Nicklaus, former Wolfson Hospital patient, will help kick off Furyk & Friends
Jack Nicklaus appears to be a go for the Constellation Furyk & Friends Champions Breakfast on Friday at the Timuquana Country Club, and he will help kick off the first round by joining a 14-year-old patient at Wolfson Children's Hospital to hit the ceremonial opening tee shots.
Nicklaus, 82, a charter member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and winner of the most major championship all-time with 18, was scheduled to appear at the breakfast last year but travel issues prevented him from getting to Jacksonville.
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As of Wednesday, golf's greatest champion will be at Timuquana with his wife Barbara for the Champions Breakfast, joining Jaguars Hall of Fame offensive tackle Tony Boselli and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Later in the day, at about 2:30 p.m., Boselli and former Jags kicker Josh Scobee will take on Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis in the Celebrity Charity Challenge, which will begin at the 10th hole.
Tables for the Champions Breakfast can be purchased by visiting furykandfriends.com. Those purchasing a table also will get VIP access to Club 58, the all-inclusive hospitality suite located at Timuquana's 17th hole.
Proceeds from the breakfast will go to the tournament's charitable goal of raising more than $1 million per year for Northeast Florida Charities.
After the breakfast, Nicklaus and Jack Jones of Jacksonville will hit tee shots to get the tournament started, around 9:15 a.m. Tournament gates open at 9 a.m.
Jones suffered a head injury while playing soccer in early 2021 and an MRI revealed a large congenital arachnoid cyst in his brain. He underwent brain surgery at Wolfson Children’s Hospital just days later but has fully recovered and is back playing soccer.
Jack and Barbara Nicklaus’ Play Yellow campaign extends to the greater Jacksonville area through the event’s support of Wolfson Children’s Hospital, the charity of the day for the tournament’s opening round.
Korn Ferry schedule released
The 2023 Korn Ferry Tour schedule was announced this week, offering record prize money for the 26 tournaments that will be played in five countries and 18 states.
The 33rd season of the Tour will offer $28 million overall, a 37.6 percent increase over 2022 ($20.35 million).
“The ultimate proving ground, the Korn Ferry Tour continues to identify, prepare and transition golf’s next stars to compete on the PGA Tour,” said Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a news release. “The success we’ve seen from Korn Ferry Tour graduates Sungjae Im, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris, the last three recipients of the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, is indicative of the quality and talent on the Korn Ferry Tour.”
The season opens on Jan. 15 with four international events, two in the Bahamas, then in Panama and Colombia. A fifth international tournament has been added in Chile.
The tournament season also has been extended into October, since the PGA Tour has gone to a calendar-year schedule. The number of Korn Ferry players who can graduate to the PGA Tour has been increased to 30 from the regular season and the fourth-tournament Korn Ferry Finals.
The purses for the Finals events increase from $1 million to $1.5 million, and regular-season events are $1 million. Finals events will be in Boise, College Grove, Tenn., Columbus, Ohio and Newburgh, Ind. for the Korn Ferry Championship.
Golf Channel will air six regular-season events and all four Finals events.
When founded in 1990 as the Ben Hogan Tour (1990-92), the Korn Ferry Tour featured a total purse of $3 million across 30 total events, averaging $100,000 per tournament.
The No. 1 player on the final 2023 Korn Ferry Tour Points List will continue to earn an exemption into The Players Championship and the U.S. Open Championship the following season.
Horschel makes the Hero field
Billy Horschel of Ponte Vedra Beach is among the 16 players who have been invited by Tiger Woods to play in the Hero World Challenge Dec. 1-4 at Albany, in the Bahamas.
Also playing are world No. 1-ranked Scottie Scheffler, No. 5 Xander Schauffele, No. 6 Jon Rahm and No. 7 Justin Thomas. Players making their debut in the tournament will be Will Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Sungjae Im, Max Homa and Tom Kim.
Also playing are Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Sam Burns.
Woods has not yet indicated if he will play. He played three events last season, the Masters, PGA and Open Championship, making the first two cuts. He sustained severe injuries in a car accident in February of 2020.
The 16 players, who have all won on the PGA Tour, have combined for 87 victories and 11 major championships.
There will be three additional spots filled by sponsor exemptions. Those players must be among the top-50 on the world rankings
Golf Channel will air portions of all four rounds and NBC will provide weekend coverage.
PGA TOUR
Event: Shriners Childrens Open, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas.
At stake: $8 million purse ($1,440,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Sungjae Im.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m.).
Area players entered: Harris English, Brian Harman, Patton Kizzire, Philip Knowles, Russell Knox, David Lingmerth, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax, J.T. Poston, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson, Michael Thompson, Carl Yuan.
Notable: Im shot 62 in the final round and defeated Matthew Wolff by four shots. … Leading the field are Patrick Cantlay, Tom Kim, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.
LPGA TOUR
Event: Mediheal Championship, Thursday-Sunday, The Saticoy Club, Somis, California.
At stake: $1.8 million purse ($270,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Matida Castren.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 9-12 p.m.).
Area players entered: Chella Choi, Amelia Lewis.
Notable: Castren shot 65 in the final round and beat Min Lee by two shots.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Event: Constellation Furyk & Friends, Friday-Sunday, Timuquana Country Club.
At stake: $2 million purse ($300,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Phil Mickelson.
TV: Golf Channel (Friday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m.).
Area players entered: David Duval, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Frank Lickliter, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh.
Notable: Mickelson held off Miguel Angel Jimenez by two shots. … Also playing are Darren Clarke, John Daly, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabala. … The tournament is hosted by Jacksonville resident Jim Furyk.
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jack Nicklaus, former Wolfson patient, will help kick off Furyk & Friends
