LPGA’s Tournament of Champions moves to Lake Nona

The LPGA’s unique season-opening Tournament of Champions has a new title sponsor and Orlando-area location.

Hilton Grand Vacations will replace Diamond Resorts while the event will move to Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on Jan. 20-23. Remaining will be the event’s distinctive format grouping LPGA Tour winners with celebrities, athletes and entertainers.

Jessica Korda held off younger sister Nelly, now the world’s top-ranked player, and LPGA star Danielle Kang during the 2020 Tournament of Champions at Tranquilo Golf Course. The event featured the return of Hall of Famer Annika Sörenstam, a longtime Lake Nona resident, for an LPGA event.

Former tennis pro Mardy Fish became the first three-time winner of the celebrity division.

The 2021 field is incomplete but features LPGA Tour winners from the previous two seasons competing in a 72-hole stroke-play no-cut event for a $1.2 million purse. Celebrities play for $500,000 in prize money in a modified Stableford format.

Qualifying pro-am players also compete during official tournament rounds.

API tickets

The 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational, slated for March 3-6 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, will feature a new fan area and ticket options.

Tickets are available at the tournament website at arnoldpalmerinvitational.com.

General admission tickets start at $35 for Tuesday and Wednesday’s practice rounds; $65 for Thursday’s first round; $80 for the second and third rounds on Friday/Saturday; and $75 for Sunday’s final round. Mastercard cardholders receive a 10% discount.

The White Claw Fan Deck located near the 15th green and the 16th tee box will debut in 2022 and offer enhanced viewing of the difficult par-4 15th hole and risk-reward par-5 No. 16. Tickets start at $115 for Thursday, $130 for Friday/Saturday and $125 for Sunday.

Bryson DeChambeau will defend his 2021 title and compete with many of the PGA Tour’s top players for $9.5 million in prize money.

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osgators.