For the second year in a row, pro football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice will serve as the host and play in the Nationwide tournament near San Francisco. Humbled by his debut, he’ll look to improve on his 83-76 showing at TPC Stonebrae.

The only major tour off this week is the LPGA, which resumes April 28 with the Avnet Classic in Mobile, Ala., just the fourth domestic stop this year.

Kudos for Nelson Larry Nelson, who didn’t start playing golf until he was 21, then went on to become a two-time major champion who has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, will receive the PGA Distinguished Service Award, given annually by the PGA of America. Nelson, 63, will be honored Aug. 10 at the PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, near his home in Marietta, Ga.

Ace in the hole Dan Keegan had so much fun the first time, he was able to come up aces twice — in a six-day span. Keegan, who plays at Plymouth Country Club, made a pair of holes-in-one on the 171-yard 17th hole at the Plantation Golf Resort and Spa in Crystal River, Fla., late last month. The first ace was with a 7 iron, the second one a 5 iron. They were the first two holes-in-one for Keegan . . . Playing together at a club near Sao Paulo, a man and his wife recently aced the same hole seconds apart. Takashi Sasaki went first and, from 166 yards, knocked his shot into the hole. His wife, Marli, playing from 115 yards, matched his feat. It was the first hole-in-one for both . . . Because of scheduling conflicts and an early focus on celebrating the 100-year anniversary in 2013 of the namesake’s historic US Open win, the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund has decided not to hold its annual banquet this year. The banquet, typically held in May and honoring an individual’s lifelong contributions to golf — past recipients include Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, and Annika Sorenstam last year — is expected to resume in 2012 . . . Deadlines are approaching for two upcoming events. The first MGA Member Day event at Cohasset Country Club is May 2, but entries for the tournament — open to anyone with a handicap — must be received by April 21. That’s also the day those hoping to play in this year’s Massachusetts Open must register. The 102d Massachusetts Open is June 27-29 at Oak Hill Country Club, with qualifiers starting May 16. To enter either event, visit www.mgalinks.org . . . Four two-man teams tied for first at the New England PGA’s Spring Pro-Pro at Andover Country Club, the opening event on the NEPGA’s 2011 schedule. Shooting 4-under-par 68s were Jim Fairbanks (Nonesuch River) and R.J. Austin (Sugarbush), John Fields (Belmont) and Gary Parker (CityGolf Walpole), Mark Heartfield (Sankaty Head), and Glendon Sutton (Massachusetts Golf Association), and Rick Karbowski (Auburn Driving Range) and Tim Tierney (Weston).

Michael Whitmer can be reached at mwhitmer@globe.com.