The 19-year-old who is now in his first year as a professional learned the game as a junior golfer at Hackberry Creek CC in Irving, Texas, a ClubCorp property. The player sponsorship is the first for the management firm.

The PGA Tour is trying to hold a test event on March 8 for the new course in Rio de Janeiro, and is even offering charter-flight transportation for participants. But scheduling conflicts has many Tour players turning down the opportunity.

The par 71 course at the Palm Harbor, Fla., resort was closed for six months to regrass all fairways and rough, rebuild each green, install a new irrigation system, and reshape the bunkers back to Larry Packard’s original design.