BOCA RATON — Former major champions John Daly and Darren Clarke are among the first of many player commitments announced Tuesday for the inaugural James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational at Broken Sound Club.
Daly, one of the game’s most popular players since his out-of-nowhere victory in the 1991 PGA as the ninth alternate, also won the 2005 British Open in a playoff against Costantino Rocca. The long-hitting Daly has 19 worldwide wins, including five on the PGA Tour and one on the PGA Tour Champions.
Clarke won the 2011 British Open in his homeland at Portrush, and his other two PGA Tour titles were World Golf Championships, including a memorable win over Tiger Woods in the finals of the 2000 Match Play. Clarke has won four PGA Tour Champions events, including the 2020 TimberTech Championship at Broken Sound.
“Darren and John are two of the most popular golfers not only in the U.S., but around the world,” said Ken Kennerly, executive director of the event. “They are a wonderful addition to a unique tournament that includes many of the greatest NFL players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Daly and Clarke will be joined by two other player commitments, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly, in a Legends Shootout that takes place Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Broken Sound. Jimenez, nicknamed “The Mechanic,” won 21 times on the European Tour and 14 on the PGA Tour Champions. Kelly, a former Stuart resident, has three wins on the PGA Tour and 12 on the PGA Tour Champions.
Daly, Clarke, Jimenez and Kelly will face NFL stars, Marshall Faulk, Rondé Barber, Warren Sapp and Lawrence Taylor in a private five-hole skins competition from 5:30-7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2, of tournament week.
This quartet of 50-and-older golf stars will be joined by a list of pro football greats that includes Palm Beach County products Devin Hester and Rickey Jackson, who attended Tuesday’s media day to promote the March 31-April 6 event that will be televised by the Golf Channel.
“It’s always fun to play with the pros and see if you can beat them. You always want to win,” said Jackson, a Pahokee native/West Palm Beach resident who had 128 sacks in his NFL career, mostly with the New Orleans Saints. “I’m not a good golfer – my handicap is 14 – but I can make some pars and bogeys.”
Hester and Jackson will be joined by Pro Football Hall of Famers Morten Anderson, Barber, Jerome Bettis, Tony Boselli, Derrick Brooks, Tim Brown, Isaac Bruce, Cris Carter, Terrell Davis, Richard Dent, Eric Dickerson, Dan Fouts, Dwight Freeney, Dan Hampton, Mike Haynes, Hester, Steve Hutchinson, Faulk, Calvin Johnson, James Lofton, Tom Mack, Randall McDaniel, Anthony Munoz, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, John Randle, Andre Reed, Sapp, Will Shields, Jan Stenerud, Dwight Stephenson, Taylor, Thurman Thomas, Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware, Roger Wehrli, Patrick Willis and Kellen Winslow
Twenty-six of the NFL stars will be paired with PGA Tour Champions players for a separate team competition on Friday and Saturday (some of the NFL greats will play in the pro-ams on Wednesday and Thursday). The pro golfers will hold their usual 54-hole event, finishing on Sunday.
For ticket information, go to JamesHardieInvitational.com.
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