Davis Love III has committed to play in the Barbasol Championships set for next month at Champions at Keene Trace in Nicholasville. (PGA Tour Photo)
By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
The field is shaping up for the Barbasol Championship.
Davis Love III committed to play in the event set for July 19-22 at Champions at Keene Trace in Nicholasville. Love, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, has posted 21 PGA Tour victories and one major championship in his career.
Love won the 1997 PGA Championship and was runner-up in the Masters (1995, 1999) and the U.S. Open in 1996. He served as captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2016.
Love will play with his son Dru Love, who earned a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the tournament. Dru Love qualified for the U.S. Open last year and is a graduate of Alabama, where he was a standout on the men’s golf team.
“Our tournament will be dominated by some of the world’s best young golf talent, but to have one of the greatest golfers in Davis Love in the event brings tremendous excitement to our first event,” said Brooks Downing, executive director.
Love’s best finish this season was at the CIMB Classic, where his finished tied for 28th overall. Justin Thomas won last October. Love also made the cut this spring at the Arnold Palmer, the Punta Cana event and the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head. His last victory came in the 2015 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro. He could still qualify for the Open, which is played the same weekend as the Barbasol Championship, but would need a high finish in next three weeks at the National, the Greenbrier or the John Deere Classic.
Players previously announced for the Barbasol Championship field include two-time LPGA major winner Brittany Lincicome, Lexington-native Josh Teater, recent University of Kentucky golfers Cooper Musselman and Chip McDaniel and local professional golfer Grover Justice.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
