Unless you were seriously watching the DP World Tour 2024 opener or you played at Michael Jordan’s exclusive golf club Grove XXIII in Hobe Sound, Florida, you most likely came from Never heard of Ken Weyand.
Weyand is listed online as president/general manager/director of golf operations at Grove XXIII, a position he has held since November 2017, according to Weyand’s LinkedIn profile. This week, he was invited to participate in the 2024 Dubai Invitational, a non-promotional event with 60 players, as a sponsor and removed his name. The 54-year-old club pro performed well against a group of pros, shooting rounds of 87-82-82-86 to finish last at 53 over, behind winner Tommy Tommy Fleetwood (72). Sweden’s Jens Dantorp finished 59th at 14 over, 39 strokes ahead of last place Weyand. I only had two birdies all week.
Eddie Pepperell, never afraid to share his thoughts, took to social media to voice his displeasure with the sponsor’s choice of performance, writing “I don’t care if he’s Ken from Barbie, this shouldn’t be happening .”
Space was limited, so Kenwayand Sr. received the invitation and did just that. I don’t care if he’s Ken from Barbie, this shouldn’t happen.
—Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) January 11, 2024
Earlier this week, Weyand’s playing partner Richard Mansell spoke about what it’s like to play alongside the struggling invitee.
“Yeah, it’s been a tricky few days and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a distraction,” Mansell said. “Look, I saw what Eddie posted and I read some of the comments and I can understand where they’re coming from. But my opinion is that this fight wouldn’t be happening without sponsors. So for them Two special invitations, or whatever invitations they get this week, I think they can invite whoever they want. That’s golf. “I do have feelings for Marty Jordan, though. “
Mansell was referring to Matthew Jordan, the hometown club kid who excelled at the Royal Liverpool Open last year and is No. 1 on the Dubai Invitational reserve list.