December 18, 2020 | BY AAGD STAFF
On Thursday, the PGA Tour announced that the new sponsor of the Memorial in 2021 will be Workday.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said In a virtual roundtable event that the Dublin Ohio event at Muirfield Village has signed a 10-year deal with Workday, a financial and human capital management software vendor.
When Workday sponsored a one-off event earlier this year at Muirfield Village (replacing previous sponsor Nationwide) held just one week prior to the Memorial tournament (to replace the canceled John Deere Classic), Monahan said, “It says a lot of what a company like Workday thinks about the future of the PGA Tour when we see a commitment like this.” Nationwide had been a presenting sponsor of the Memorial since 2011.
Established by NBA Golden States Warrior Stephen Curry, the Memorial benefits Curry’s Oakland-based charity Eat. Learn. Play. along with supporting the Nationwide children’s Hospital.
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“We applaud Workday and the importance they place on helping children,” said tournament host Jack Nicklaus. “That commitment is reflected in their support of Eat. Learn. Play. We are delighted to join Workday in welcoming Stephen and Ayesha, as well as their foundation, to our family, and we know the Memorial will assist in furthering their mission. Barbara and I have a deep-rooted love of children, and we are passionate in our efforts to help kids.”
Now, Workday’s involvement with the Memorial puts the likelihood of a San Francisco event in doubt. It was believed that TPC Harding Park would be getting an annual tour stop, and if this had happened, it would lead to the 2026 Presidents Cup being moved to Medinah. Workday was considered to be among the speculated candidates who were looking to back the San Francisco event, lead by Curry.
“We had an interest in being at TPC Harding Park. To pull off an event, you need a number of things to come together,” Monahan said. “You’ve got to have a host organization. You’ve got to have a title sponsor. You’ve got to have a golf course, and you’ve got to have community support.
“You look at markets like Detroit where for a number of years we were looking to come back there. Ultimately we were able to solve for that. We still have a lot of interest in bringing a PGA Tour event to San Francisco. We just won’t be doing it at this time.”
