Ohio Golf Journal December 2020

The PGA Tour restarted professional golf at the end of June at The Travelers, moved to Detroit, for the Rocket Mortgage Classic the following week and then held two events in Ohio. Muirfield Village hosted both the Workday Charity Open and the Memorial in consecutive weeks in July. Collin Morikawa won the first week and Jon Rahm followed up with a convincing win in the Memorial. Both would go on to win other big events in 2020, Morikawa the PGA Championship and Rahm the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. 2 1 34 After earning $13 million in prize money during his very successful 13- year career, Ohio native Jason Kokrak won his first PGA TOUR title. He collected $1.775 million for taking first place at the CJ Cup, which had been moved from Korea to Shadow Creek Golf Club in Las Vegas. His career had included making 150 cuts with 28 top 10 finishes prior to the win. When the LPGA Tour resumed tournament play it did so with the Drive ON Championship at Inverness with Danielle Kang grabbing the win. Inverness proved to be a major championship style venue and gave golf fans a taste of what they can expect next year when the Solheim Cup comes to town. Danielle completed a double dip by also besting the field at the Marathon Classic the following week, when former Marathon champion, Lydia Ko made a mess at the final hole to give the title to Kang. COVID 19 was definitely the top story in Ohio and the entire golf world for 2020. It forced the closing of golf courses across the state, plus professional tournaments were added and rescheduled to accommodate public health concerns. Country Health officials across the state had to be convinced that golf could be enjoyed without experiencing safety concerns. Although courses were closed early in the year, the balance of 2020 saw record numbers flocking to golf courses as it became apparent that golf was a sport that could be enjoyed safely.