SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — A number of golfers at this year’s Ryder Cup are wearing yellow ribbons in honor of Celia Barquin Arozamena. Barquin was a rising star from Spain and a former Iowa State golfer who was killed while playing golf last week.
European captain Thomas Bjorn said during a pre-match press conference that his team would be wearing yellow ribbons in her honor this week. Barquin’s favorite color was yellow. Several American players, including Tiger Woods, were wearing yellow ribbons in practice rounds.
Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, two Spanish stars on the European side, were each familiar with Barquin. “The only thing we can do is pay a great tribute to her and make sure that her family feels proud of us, and I know they feel proud of her,” Garcia said.
“The golfing family extends way beyond what we are trying to do this week,” European captain Thomas Bjorn said. “You know, those events in America with Celia being killed playing golf is something that’s hit everybody in the golf family, and obviously our two Spanish players very much. And we felt like that after a conversation from Ryder Cup Europe with Celia’s mother, that we would honor her this week.
“That’s what we are doing, and it’s nothing about us, but it’s just more about that the golfing family [being] touched by these things all over the world. It’s terrible when things like this happen. [She was] such a great prospect for the game of golf, but also a wonderful person. And when you speak to Sergio and Jon about it … they couldn’t talk highly enough about her. We felt like that was appropriate for the week.”
