Cold weather that has plagued most of the United States the past few weeks is heading to Central Florida, forcing tournament organizers at the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions to make big changes for Sunday’s final round.
Temperatures in Orlando are expected to drop considerably Saturday night, with lows hovering around 25 degrees Sunday morning and wind gusts over 20 mph. The high won’t reach 50 degrees.
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Because of the anticipated weather, tournament officials at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club made the decision late Thursday 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.
Coverage was supposed to be on NBC with the winner being crowned at 4 p.m. ET. However, now the first two hours (from 2-4 p.m. ET) will air live on NBC before moving to Golf Channel for the final two hours (from 4-6 p.m. ET). Peacock will stream the event from 1-2 p.m. ET.
It’s been chilly at the Tournament of Champions for much of the week, although Friday’s second round is expected to be ideal, with temperatures in the low 70s.
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.
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“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.”
Nasa Hataoka shot a six-under 66 in Round 1 to hold a one-shot lead over World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, Linn Grant, Lottie Woad and Chanettee Wannasaen.