{"id":13355,"date":"2026-06-02T12:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/13355\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T12:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T12:37:11","slug":"why-do-players-wear-yellow-on-the-final-day-at-the-memorial-tournament-heartwarming-reason-for-look-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/13355\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do players wear yellow on the final day at the Memorial Tournament? Heartwarming reason for look explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yellow is the chosen theme on day four of the Memorial Tournament – and for a very special reason.<\/p>\n

The annual PGA Tour<\/a> signature event returns to Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio this week to celebrate its 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy is one player to have worn yellow at Nicklaus’ Memorial TournamentCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Jack Nicklaus, who won an all-time record of 18 major titles, founded the event in 1976 and designed the course on which it is played.<\/p>\n

He won in 1977 and 1984, and became an honouree at the turn of the century thanks to his long-standing status as a golfing icon.<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods<\/a> has won the most titles with five, and Scottie Scheffler<\/a> is the reigning champion<\/a> looking for a third consecutive victory.<\/p>\n

The Memorial Tournament is regarded as an exalted invitational and boasts a $20million prize purse, with $4m awarded to the champion.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON GOLF<\/p>\n

However, whilst golfers usually abide by a strict dress code at events such as this, they are encouraged to don yellow as part of their attire.<\/p>\n

Why do players wear yellow at the Memorial Tournament?<\/p>\n

The reason is rather heartwarming, and dates back to the founder’s legendary successes on the golf<\/a> course.<\/p>\n

Nicklaus, nicknamed ‘the Golden Bear’, used to wear yellow during his final rounds at tournaments in tribute to a close friend’s son<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rev. Dr. William E. Smith was the senior pastor at Nicklaus’ local church in Columbus, Ohio, and had two children, Craig and Janet.<\/p>\n

Craig was an avid golfer and, thanks to his father’s friendship with ‘the Golden Bear’, lucky to be acquainted with an all-time great.<\/p>\n

However, he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, in 1968 and had six months to live.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Nicklaus wore yellow in his last round at tournaments in tribute to CraigCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Nicklaus did what he could to support Craig by sending tournament souvenirs and phoning him, and also asked the youngster to reveal his favourite coloured golf shirt.<\/p>\n

It turned out to be yellow as Craig and his grandfather, who taught him how to play, felt it gave them more success with their clubs.<\/p>\n

Nicklaus took note and promised to wear yellow shirts on the last day of televised tournaments as a heartfelt gesture.<\/p>\n

His PGA Championship win in February 1971 is just one example of the golfing great sticking to his word.<\/p>\n

Tragically, Craig passed away in June that year at just 13-years-old.<\/p>\n

“It meant everything to Craig,” his father Dr. Smith explained to Golf World in 2011. When Craig would see Jack on TV in a yellow shirt, he’d say, ‘Hello to you, Jack.'”<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Nicklaus made sure to wear yellow, even in the biggest moments of his careerCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Nicklaus suffered further loss in 1986 ahead of the Masters when his wife Barbara’s mother passed away.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Associated Press after winning the last of six titles at the major he said: “After that, Barbara suggested that I wear a yellow shirt at Augusta in memory of Craig.<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t tell anybody about it. But that’s the reason I wore the yellow shirt. And I saved it for Sunday.”<\/p>\n

Craig’s memory has lived on at the Memorial Tournament with their ‘Play Yellow’ initiative.<\/p>\n

It aids the Children’s Miracle Network, who help fund 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n

Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which is based in Columbus, has been a beneficiary of the tournament ever since it started 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

Memorial Tournament players and fans are allowed to wear yellow on the Sunday to show support for the campaign.<\/p>\n

Play Yellow merchandise can be purchased, with donations also able to be made at concessions stands or in golf shops.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT\"Jack<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

Nicklaus won his sixth Green Jacket in yellow attireCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

All of the donations made during tournament week are distributed to various Nationwide Children’s Hospital initiatives.<\/p>\n

The campaign surpassed an incredible $100m in donations in 2024, with Craig Smith living long in the tournament’s memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yellow is the chosen theme on day four of the Memorial Tournament – and for a very special…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1484,1418,5715,399,2417],"class_list":["post-13355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rory-mcilroy","tag-jack-nicklaus","tag-memorial-tournament","tag-play-yellow","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-yellow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}