[Photo: Julio Aguilar]
Cold weather that has plagued most of the United States the past few weeks is heading to central Florida, forcing tournament organisers at the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to make big changes for the final round.
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Temperatures are expected to drop considerably on Saturday night, with lows hovering near -4 degrees Celsius on Sunday morning and wind gusts stronger than 32kph. The high won’t reach 10 degrees.
Because of the anticipated weather, tournament officials at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club made the decision overnight (Australian time) to cut the field to 60 total participants – 10 fewer groups and 30 fewer players – to accommodate what would have been a lengthy delay in the morning. The field on Sunday will include 21 celebrities ranked by score after the third round. The 39 LPGA players will still all play. Groups of three will go off the first and 10th tees and television coverage has been altered.
It’s been chilly at the Tournament of Champions for much of the week. Earlier in the week several players discussed their thoughts on playing in cold weather, including England’s Charley Hull, who summed it up as only she can.
Kiwi Lydia Ko and England’s Lottie Woad share the lead at eight-under-par as the second round nears its conclusion. No Australians are in the limited-player field.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” she said. “Yesterday I had three pairs of pants on. I bet people were thinking, Gosh, she enjoyed Christmas a bit too much.”
Kiwi Lydia Ko and England’s Lottie Woad share the lead at eight-under-par as the second round nears its conclusion. No Australians are in the limited-player field.
