The Loop

Memorial Tournament to honor Jaime Diaz

July 03, 2013

A native San Franciscan, Golf World editor-in-chief Jaime Diaz fell under the spell of golf there, and its Olympic Club was instrumental in fomenting his passion for the game, for those who made history and those who wrote about it.

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"Olympic," he wrote last year in Golf World, "was San Francisco's key link to golf history, the poignant place where Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer had fallen hardest, from where Johnny Miller had risen, and about which Charles Price and Dan Jenkins had written with mind-opening style in the coffee-table golf books I kept by my bed."

Diaz eventually joined the fraternity of those who write about it, and he continues to do so in a long and distinguished career that will formally be recognized by the Memorial Tournament, which has announced that he will be its 2014 Journalism Award honoree.

It is the third year in a row that a Golf Digest or Golf World editor or contributor will have been so honored at Jack Nicklaus' tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Golf Digest contributor Dave Kindred was the 2013 honoree, while Golf World contributor Bob Verdi was the 2012 honoree. Previous honorees with ties to Golf Digest include Charles Price, Peter Dobereiner, Dan Jenkins, Dave Anderson and Nick Seitz.

The honoree is chosen by the Memorial Journalism Committee, comprised of a distinguished panel of golf journalists. Diaz will be the 48th golf writer honored by the tournament.

Diaz joined Golf Digest originally in 1989, then covered golf for the New York Times and Sports Illustrated before returning to Golf Digest in 2001. In March of 2012, he was named editor-in-chief of Golf World.

Last year, Diaz received the PGA of America's Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism.