BOCA RATON, Fla. — Seventy-eight PGA Tour Champions players and 26 NFL Hall of Famers are competing in Palm Beach County later this month in the inaugural James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational.
The golf tournament will be held from March 31 – April 6 at the Old Course at Broken Sound in Boca Raton. Players will compete for a purse of $2.2 million.
"It's not an easy course, but it's fair," tournament director Steve Marino said. "They'll be competing in a best-of-all format. This is unique, fun, exciting and something that's going to bring a lot of fun and energy."
Among the athletes competing is Pahokee native Rickey Jackson, who played 15 seasons for the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.
"It's very exciting that you get a chance to play against the pros, and everybody wants to beat the pros," Jackson said. "That's our goal, to come out here and try to see what we can do compared to the pros."
While he's excelled on the NFL gridiron, he said he will give the PGA greats a run for their money.
"You still want to win. It's just like football; you want to win," Jackson said. "You want to be able to go and talk on the phone at night, and you want to say you won that match. It ain't nothing but competitive golf."
While he admits golf is much quieter than the raucous stadiums he played in, there are some similarities that he feels he can capitalize on.
"When you're not hitting the ball, you can have fun, you can listen to music," Jackson said. "The only time it's quiet in golf is when they hit the ball."
Jackson isn't the only Palm Beach County native competing. Special teams star Devin Hester, a graduate of Suncoast High School, is also a part of the field.
