Lyndsay Fogarty
Fans don’t often get to see LPGA Tour champions such as Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson taking selfies on the course or competing alongside sports and entertainment stars like Ray Allen, Mark Mulder and Kevin Millar. But the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions Presented by Insurance Office of America is not your typical golf tournament. The party and the LPGA Tour will kick off Jan. 16-19, 2020, at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando.
What to Expect at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions
Balancing serious competition with an entertaining twist, this tournament is a true winners-only event, with only LPGA champions from the 2018 and 2019 seasons qualifying to compete. To date, more than two dozen LPGA players have qualified, including standouts Brittany Lincicome, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie, Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda and Eun-Hee Ji, who won the inaugural Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in January 2019.
Baseball Hall of Famer John Smoltz will return to defend his 2019 title against fellow pro-sports and entertainment stars, including: football Hall of Famers Marcus Allen and Brian Urlacher, hockey All-Star Jeremy Roenick, comedian Larry the Cable Guy, and TV personality Ben Higgins, who starred in season 20 of ABC’s The Bachelor.
The LPGA competitors will play 72 holes with no cut for $1.2 million in official prize money, while the celebrities play for their own $500,000 purse using a modified Stableford format. A group of 10 amateur golfers, who play in the event’s pro-am, will also qualify to play alongside the stars during official tournament rounds.
Threesomes may include a combination of LPGA champions and sports or entertainment celebrities, and some with all LPGA players or all celebrities.
All four days of play are nationally televised, with Thursday and Friday on Golf Channel, and Saturday and Sunday on NBC. But nothing beats catching the competition live on the course.
Be There in Person
Fans can purchase several ticket packages, ranging from $30 for a single-day grounds pass to $60 for a 4-day pass. Also available are a limited number of Club 18 packages, which include seats in a skybox on Hole 18, a fully catered lunch, premium open bar and tickets to two private evening events that were previously only open to LPGA players, celebrities and tournament sponsors. These packages are priced at $3,000.
There is also a new ticket add-on option this year for the Taste & Travel Pass with five- or 10-tab options – priced at $40 and $80 respectively – so fans can eat and drink their way around the course while catching the action.
For more information and to buy tickets, visit DiamondLPGA.com.
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