Golf event won’t return to Bay Area in 2020

The golf tournament held at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward — which gained visibility because of Warriors guard Stephen Curry’s participation the past two years — will not return to the Bay Area next year, tour officials confirmed Saturday to The Chronicle.

This year’s Ellie Mae Classic, set for Aug. 14, will mark the event’s final edition in the Bay Area.

Officials of the Korn Ferry Tour — the top developmental circuit run by the PGA Tour — sought another East Bay venue to host the tournament, but they ultimately decided the finances wouldn’t work.

The tour, long known as the Web.com Tour until last month’s title sponsorship change, historically thrives in midsize markets such as Boise, Idaho; Knoxville, Tenn.; Wichita, Kan., and Omaha, Neb. It struggled to gain a foothold in the Bay Area, despite former 49ers star Jerry Rice twice serving as tournament host and playing in the event and Curry’s appearances in 2017 and ’18.

Curry, an avid golfer, raised the event’s profile and acquitted himself well on the course despite missing the cut in both of his starts. He shot 7474 two years ago — beating four players in the field — and opened with a 1overpar 71 last year, before posting 86 in the second round.

Curry will not play in next month’s tournament because of a scheduling conflict.

The event has been played at Stonebrae annually since 2009, with the exception of ’13. Past winners include Kevin Chappell, Tony Finau and Si Woo Kim, all of whom later won on the PGA Tour.

Kim’s two wins on the “big tour” include the 2017 Players Championship. Finau played on last year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Stephan Jaeger also made headlines in Hayward in 2016, when he shot 12underpar 58 in the opening round. At the time, that marked the lowest round ever in a PGA Toursanctioned event; one week later, Jim Furyk matched Jaeger by shooting 58 at the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship.