PARIS, France -- Players will wear yellow ribbons during this week's Ryder Cup in tribute to murdered Iowa State student-athlete Celia Barquin Arozamena.
Barquin Arozamena, 22, was found dead on Sep. 17 at a golf course in Ames, Iowa. A native of Spain, she won the Big 12 championship by 3 strokes in April.
Speaking at a Ryder Cup news conference at Le Golf National in Paris, European captain Thomas Bjorn spoke about the poignancy of the tribute.
"The golfing family extends way beyond what we are trying to do this week," said Bjorn. "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 [Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm] very much. And we felt like, 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 will both [...] they couldn't talk highly enough about her. We felt like that was appropriate for the week."
The ribbons will be made available for players on both teams to wear during play. Competitive action begins on Friday morning, with the United States defending the trophy they won two years ago at Hazeltine, Minnesota.