ORLANDO, Fla. — The season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions is on deck this week as 35 of the LPGA Tour’s best tee it up alongside nearly 50 celebrities at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Fla. The event will kickstart another record-breaking season for the LPGA Tour, one that will see players compete for $116.55 million in official prize money across 33 official events while many work towards their dreams of competing on either the United States or European Solheim Cup team and in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The field features LPGA Tour winners from the past two seasons with stars like Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang set to compete for a share of a $1.5 million purse. Take a look at a few of the featured groups playing this week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Thursday, 9:20 a.m. – Nasa Hataoka/Rose Zhang/Albert Pujols
Six-time LPGA Tour winner Nasa Hataoka will tee it up alongside 2023 Mizuho Americas Open champion Rose Zhang and six-time Silver Slugger Award winner Albert Pujols on Thursday at 9:20 a.m. at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. The Japan native was ranked 12th in the Race to the CME Globe at the end of last season, recording seven top-10 finishes and making $1,988,216 in earnings in 2023. Four of those seven top-10 results were top fives, with Hataoka most notably finishing in a tie for fourth at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, tying for third at The Amundi Evian Championship and tying for second at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the 25-year-old led the LPGA Tour in rounds of 65 or lower in 2023, carding seven rounds of 65 or better in 23 total events last season, two of which were 63s that came in the second round of the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G and in the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship. This is her fifth appearance in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, and in her four previous starts, Hataoka has finished no worse than T18, earning two top-five results in 2020 when she tied for second and in 2023 when she finished solo fifth.
Although she was considered to be an LPGA Tour rookie last season after accepting immediate LPGA Tour membership following her win at the Mizuho Americas Open, 2024 will mark Rose Zhang’s first full year on the LPGA Tour. The young talent burst onto the scene last summer, winning in her professional debut at Liberty National Golf Club to become the first player to win their first LPGA Tour tournament as a pro since Beverly Hanson in 1951. She then recorded three top-10 results in the four majors in which she got to tee it up as a member, tying for eighth at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and then tying for ninth at both the U.S. Women’s Open and The Amundi Evian Championship. Although Zhang stalled a bit after her performance in Evian-les-Bains, France, she picked up the pace again in the fall, earning three top-15 finishes in her last three events of the season, including a tie for third at the Maybank Championship. Statistically, the 20-year-old finished the season ranked sixth in strokes gained tee to green (+1.41), 11th in strokes gained total (+1.47) and 11th in strokes gained approach (+0.85), an impressive showing considering she only played in 14 official events in 2023.
Former professional baseball player Albert Pujols is making his first start in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions this week at Lake Nona. The 44-year-old spent 22 seasons with the MLB, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. He earned six Silver Slugger Awards and was an All-Star 11 times, most recently playing in the MLB All-Star Game in 2022. Pujols was also named MVP of the National League three times (2005, 2008, 2009) and won two Gold Glove awards as a first baseman.
Thursday, 10:48 a.m. – Ally Ewing/Lydia Ko/Mardy Fish
Ally Ewing is making her fourth start at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, qualifying for this year’s field as a result of her victory at the 2022 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. The 31-year-old had a strong 2023 season, earning five top-10 results in 20 starts to finish the year ranked 32nd in the Race to the CME Globe. The most notable of those five was a tie for sixth at the AIG Women’s Open, and Ewing was also one of 28 players to earn $1 million or more last year, making $1,014,008 in season earnings. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the Mississippi native ranked highest in strokes gained tee to green at the end of last season, finishing 2023 ranked 16th in the metric and gaining 1.02 strokes on the field from tee to green. Ewing also represented the United States for the third time at the Solheim Cup last year, earning one point for the Red, White and Blue at Finca Cortesin.
Former Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko had a difficult year in 2023, only finishing in the top 10 twice in 20 total starts during the regular season, which included a tie for sixth at the Honda LPGA Thailand in the spring and a solo third at the Maybank Championship in the fall. Despite the challenges, Ko did manage to rank eighth in strokes gained around the green after the conclusion of 2023, gaining 0.35 strokes on the field with her short game. She also ranked fourth in both putting average (28.92) and putts per green in regulation (1.75) on the LPGA Tour last year. The brightest spot of Ko’s season actually came in the very last event of the year as the New Zealand native won the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational – the first mixed-team event on the LPGA and PGA Tours since 1999 – alongside her playing partner and fellow major champion Jason Day. While the win won’t count as an official victory, it was a breath of fresh air for the 19-time LPGA Tour winner after a challenging 2023 season, and she’ll look to keep that momentum rolling this week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Mardy Fish is the defending celebrity champion this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club, winning by 16 points in the modified Stableford format at last year’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. He has also won the 2020 American Century Championship, held annually in Lake Tahoe, and has two victories at the Diamond Resorts Invitational that came in 2016 and 2018. The 42-year-old formerly played professional tennis, winning six times on the ATP Tour and earning a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Thursday, 10:59 a.m. – Leona Maguire/Lilia Vu/Brian Baumgartner
A pair of Solheim Cuppers will play alongside actor Brian Baumgartner on Thursday at 10:59 a.m. Leona Maguire captured her second career LPGA Tour victory in 2023, winning the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in June by two shots over Ariya Jutanugarn. The Irishwoman became a Rolex First-Time Winner in 2022 after taking home the LPGA Drive On Championship title with a three-stroke victory over Lexi Thompson. In addition to her win in Grand Rapids, Mich., last year, the now 29-year-old earned five other top-10 results, including a tie for ninth at the 2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in her tournament debut. The Rolex Rankings No. 25 most notably finished fifth in strokes gained around the green in 2023, gaining 0.45 strokes on the field with her short game last year on the LPGA Tour according to KPMG Performance Insights.
Epson Tour graduate Lilia Vu had a banner season on the LPGA Tour in 2023, capturing four victories – two of which were major titles at The Chevron Championship and AIG Women’s Open – and earning Rolex Player of the Year honors. She also ascended to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings for the first time in her career after winning the AIG Women’s Open in August and has held the top spot in the standings for 18 total weeks and counting. Vu finished first on both the Official Money List and in the Race to the CME Globe, ranking second in putts per green in regulation (1.73) and scoring average (69.81) at the end of the 2023 season. According to KPMG Performance Insights, Vu had the highest percentage of rounds where she gained three or more strokes total on the field (37.5%), and she also finished the year ranked fifth in strokes gained total (+1.77) and 10th in strokes gained putting. Her four wins in 2023 made Vu just the fourth American since 2000 to win four or more times in a single season, and she joins an elite list that includes Paula Creamer, Nelly Korda and Stacy Lewis.
Actor Brian Baumgartner is most well-known for his portrayal of Kevin Malone in the hit sitcom “The Office”, which ran from 2005 to 2013. He has made appearances in many other television shows, including “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “Mike & Molly” and most recently, “The Other Black Girl.”
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