Why are PGA Tour Players Wearing Purple Ribbons at the Sony Open in Hawaii?

The Sony Open in Hawaii ended with a playoff between Hideki Matsuyama and Russell Henley. Hideki made an unbelievable eagle on the first playoff hole and, as a result, became the 2022 Sony Open champion.

Apart from Hideki’s masterclass, one thing that caught the eye of many was golfers and media personnel wearing purple ribbons. Notably, players wore it to remember one of the most famous media personalities in golf, Tim Rosaforte.

Purple ribbons at Sony Open?

Tim Rosaforte was one of the famous media personnel at the PGA Tour. He covered 125 major championships in his dynamic career and was also a senior writer at Golf Digest. He received a PGA Life Time Achievement Award in Journalism in 2014. Sadly, the media veteran passed away on Tuesday last week, just before the event, aged 66.

Tim was suffering from Alzheimer’s and passed away following complications of the same. Not to forget, Tim was also the former president of the Golf Writers Association of America.

Watch this story: 2022 Sony Open prize money distribution.

The tour professionals and other media members wore a purple ribbon on their caps in order to pay respect to the sad demise of Tim. Players like Russel Henley, Jim Furyk were some of the prominent personalities who were seen wearing purple ribbons on their golf caps. Many professionals also spoke about the demise of Tim on their Twitter handles.

Phil Mickelson tweeted, “Tim was one of the best at what he did. He lifted those up around him and shared insight into the game of golf from an interesting and positive point of view. He will be remembered by so many he came in contact with and we are all better for having known him. RIP Tim.”

The final round was a nail-biting one

On the business end, Russell had a two shots lead heading into the final round on Sunday and continued his good form by hitting beautiful iron shots on the front nine. But Hideki was a man on a mission and forced a playoff with Henley, in which he emerged as a winner.

Read more: PGA Tour Players Reveal if They Get Fatigued After Back to Back Tournaments in Hawaii

Will Hideki win his second major in 2022?