Photos courtesy of the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, the Nicklaus family, the Jack Nicklaus Museum, Jim Mandeville and the Nicklaus Companies
The 50th playing of the annual Memorial Tournament presented by Workday returns to its Memorial Day weekend roots this year, and from refined entertainment to a historic Honoree, this golden year will be a memorable one.
The Tournament is an official PGA TOUR Signature Event for the second year in a row, meaning it will have a limited field of 72 players. Players are selected based on overall performance from the previous and current year. Tournament Executive Director Dan Sullivan feels strongly about the strength of the field this year.
“The top players will be competing here, and we expect every top player who’s qualified to play in the Tournament,” he says.
A Golden Honoree
The 2025 event has plenty of highlights, but nothing shines brighter than this year’s Tournament Honoree. Since its inception in 1976, the Captains Club has honored individuals who have significantly contributed to the sport. This year, Barbara Nicklaus, often dubbed The First Lady of Golf, was selected as the 2025 Tournament Honoree, a fitting tribute to the woman who has been by Jack Nicklaus’ side through every step of his decorated career.
Jack has cemented his legacy in golf history, but he didn’t do it alone. His wife, Barbara, has made a profound impact on the game of golf and beyond through her groundbreaking contributions to the sport and philanthropy, along with her unwavering dedication to her husband.
“The Captains Club selected Barbara Nicklaus for all that she’s contributed throughout her life,” Sullivan says. “As the partner with Jack in creating the Memorial Tournament, by supporting Jack through his career and then Jack supporting Barbara and her efforts.”
In 1957, Columbus natives Barbara Bash and Jack Nicklaus met during the first week of their freshman year at The Ohio State University on the steps of Mendenhall Lab. The two were married by July of 1960, and welcomed five children in the years following.
Throughout Jack’s record 18 professional major championship titles, 120 professional victories, including 73 PGA TOUR wins, and countless other accolades, Barbara was beside him – and if she wasn’t, Jack could feel it.
Barbara recalls a time at a U.S. Open appearance at Oak Hill when she was held up talking to a group of wives and missed his eighth hole. As they walked back to the practice green, Jack asked where she was and Barbara was surprised that with such a large crowd he would notice her absence.
“He said, ‘I know how you walk and you weren’t there,’” Barbara says. “And I thought afterward, if anybody ever asked me if I’m a golf widow, I’m going to say, ‘No, he knows where I am.’”
Pioneer in philanthropy
Beyond support on the course, Barbara has devoted much of her life to philanthropic ventures. In 2004, Barbara and Jack co-founded the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation with the goal to advance pediatric care by supporting innovative programs, research and medical facilities.
The foundation has raised more than 200 million in 20 years for pediatric healthcare, but it all started when the family suffered their own health crisis. At just 11 months old, their daughter, Nan, inhaled a crayon, which broke apart in her lungs, caused a severe case of pneumonia, and she ended up in the ICU at Columbus Children’s Hospital, now Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Jack and Barbara stayed by her bedside for days while doctors and nurses worked to save her life.
“We just sort of decided, then, as young parents, if we were ever in a position to help someone, we wanted it to be children,” Barbara says. “We started out very small, just helping smaller charities and doing little things in Columbus, and it grew.”
The Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation partnered with Miami Children’s Hospital, leading to its renaming in 2015 to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, reflecting their shared commitment to advancing pediatric care not only in South Florida, but nationwide and for children from as many as 120 countries.
The Foundation is now among the Tournament’s collaborating charitable partners, alongside Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which has been the Tournament’s main beneficiary since inception.
In 1988, Barbara helped establish the PGA TOUR Wives Association, which grew after the success of the inaugural TOUR Wives Golf Classic in 1987, where husbands served as caddies.
“There was a group of us who were really kind of a family back then,” Barbara says. “Our leader was Patsy Graham, Lou Graham’s wife. She’s the one who really got the ball rolling and got the first tournament organized, and we had Nancy Reagan on the first tee when we did that.”
Following the event’s tremendous success in raising charitable funds, Barbara, along with Graham, Vicky Waldorf and Maria Floyd, created an organization dedicated to philanthropy. Over the past 35 years, the association has raised more than $5 million for children’s charities and the golf community.
Putting family first
Beyond the duo’s long list of achievements both in golf and charity, the Nicklauses make it a priority to place their family above all else.
“When Jack turned pro, he had vowed that he would not be gone longer than two weeks at a time, because he wanted his kids to grow up knowing him,” Barbara says, “and they certainly did.”
When Jack wasn’t flying to watch baseball games between tournament rounds, Barbara and the kids were driving or flying to him. Barbara and their children have been a constant support system for Jack while also keeping him humble.
Barbara recalls a time when she and their son Jack II (Jackie), who decades later is now General Chairman of the Memorial Tournament, accompanied Jack down to La Gorce Country Club in Miami to work with his longtime instructor Jack Grout. Jack II was only 3 and was eager to be by his dad’s side while he honed his game. As Barbara led him off the course to give Jack space, a La Gorce member approached Jack II.
“One of the members walked by and looked over,” Barbara says. “He said, ‘What does your father do?’ And (Jack II) said, ‘Nothing. He just plays golf.’”
Through golf, philanthropy and family, Jack and Barbara have been a team each step of the way. Barbara will be honored at The Memorial Honoree Ceremony on Wed., May 28.
“We’re blessed, and we’ve been given so much,” Barbara says. “Golf has been our vehicle to give back.”
Schedule of Events
Tournament festivities kick off on Thurs., May 22, with the FORE! Miler, a 4-mile road race through Dublin, beginning and ending at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Additional fan events include:
- Family Night at Safari Golf Club: May 27
- Junior Golf Day: May 28
- Salute to Service Day: May 28
- Fore!Fest: May 30-31
Practice rounds follow the next Monday through Wednesday, with the Workday Golden Bear Pro-Am, featuring the Golden Cubs program, and the Memorial Honoree Ceremony following on Wednesday.
The first round of competition commences on Thurs., May 29, bringing the Tournament back to its traditional dates on the PGA TOUR schedule. Saturday’s play begins later than usual, starting around 11 a.m. and continuing until roughly 7:30 p.m. After last year’s later date, Sullivan looks forward to the Tournament’s return to Memorial Day week.
“It’s an opportunity for people to get out and enjoy themselves after a really long winter,” Sullivan says.
Although the course will remain the same and the daily schedule is consistent with last year’s, Tournament organizers have worked this year to fine-tune fan experiences. At The Hill on No. 16, spectators can enjoy the back-nine in greater comfort and alongside food from Cameron Mitchell, drinks provided by Miller, Coors and Superior Beverage Group and a large-screen video board.
“The path that the Memorial Tournament has been taking is to create an atmosphere that people can not only watch great golf, but enjoy themselves and hang out,” Sullivan says. “(No.) 16 is a destination that we know people will enjoy.”
Cemented Status
Despite an evolving golf world filled with young players and new standards, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday continues to maintain its prestige among players and fans.
The Memorial Tournament is one of three events on the PGA TOUR that are hosted by players, with the others being the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Genesis Invitational, hosted by Tiger Woods.
“When (the players) come to the Memorial Tournament, they get to meet Jack, and then the golf course really takes over,” Sullivan says. “They gain an appreciation for not only what Jack has contributed the game, but what the Tournament offers to them as a professional.”
Megan Brokamp is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mbrokamp@cityscenemediagroup.com.
