The Barbasol Championship, the first state’s only annual PGA TOUR event, will be played Thursday through Sunday, July 19-22, at Champions at Keene Trace in Nicholasville, just outside Lexington. It has been announced over the last couple of weeks that the list of noteworthy names from the PGA Tour continues to grow as the tournament nears.
Davis Love III (1997 PGA Championship), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004 U.S. Open), Brittany Lincicome (2009, 2015 ANA Inspiration [LPGA]), Angel Cabrera (2007 U.S. Open, 2009 Masters), and Y.E. Yang (2009 PGA) have all committed to the Barbasol Championship. Love III’s commitment, previously announced, includes the participation of his son, Dru, a former Alabama standout now striving to gain PGA TOUR eligibility. The field of 132 players currently represents more than 150 total PGA TOUR victories as well as multiple Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team appearances. The commitment deadline for players to play in the Barbasol Championship is Friday, July 13.
Other names of note that have now committed include Charles Howell III, Hunter Mahan, 5 time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane and Jonathan Byrd.
Along with multiple former UK & UL golfers who have committed and or qualified for Kentucky’s annual PGA Tour event, we can now add the name of one of our local homegrown golfers to the list. Matt Atkins will be in the 132-man field as announced Monday by the tournament. Atkins, 27, graduated from Apollo High School in Owensboro in 2009, going on to play for the University of South Carolina-Aiken golf team. He gained eligibility for the 2015 Web.com Tour and recorded a 3-shot victory in the 2017 El Bosque Mexico Championship, a springboard to finishing 19th on the regular-season money list to gain his 2017-18 PGA TOUR card. With only four cuts made so far in 16 starts, Atkins will be looking for familiar turf and fan support to improve his chances of retaining PGA TOUR eligibility for next season.
Daily and week-long grounds passes can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com. A Thursday grounds pass is $30 with Friday priced at $35 and the Saturday/Sunday rate at $40 per day. A four-day grounds pass can be purchased for $100, with upgraded ticket options available as well.