Tournament of Champions – Syndication Server

Four champs crowned at breezy Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions

The Forest Golf & Country Club in Ft. Meyers, Florida, hosted the event.

Three days of battling wind gusts north of 30 miles per hour and wet conditions at The Forest Golf & Country Club in Ft. Meyers, Florida, took its toll on much of the 96-man field, but four golfers were able to survive the rest to lay claim on the final Golfweek senior amateur tournament of the year.

Seniors (55-64)

Going into Thursday’s final round, Vance Welch held a two-stroke advantage over the field, sitting at 1 over for the championship.

Through 15, Welch needed to play the final three holes even par or better to close out the championship. A double bogey on No. 16 and a closing bogey on 18 saw Welch slip from the top of the leaderboard.

With the costly stumble, Ft. Meyers native Patrick Stayer slid past Welch thanks to a bogey-free final-round 71. Stayer’s final round was the only bogey-free round of the week and was also the lowest round of the tournament in the senior age division.

Patrick Stayer of Ft. Meyers, Florida, won the 2023 Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions. (Photo: Golfweek(

Golfweek No. 3 ranked, Kevin VandenBerg, was able to draw himself closer to the No. 1 spot in the Player of the Year rankings with a t-10 finish. Next week’s Society of Seniors Ralph Bogart Tournament will determine the Golfweek Senior Player of the Year as both VandenBerg and No. 2 Jon Lindstrom will be in the field. With No. 1 ranked Bob Royak not playing, Lindstrom and Vandenberg will have an opportunity to take the top spot right at the buzzer.

Super Seniors (65-69)

Steve Humphrey went into Thursday’s final round five shots back of 36-hole leader Greg Goode. Needing at least a runner-up finish to move ahead of No. 1 ranked Marcus Beck, Humphrey knew he had to play some of his best golf.

Carding an even par 72 to finish the event at 8 over par, Humphrey anxiously waited for the rest of the field to come in. Coming off of a birdie on No. 17, Goode bogeyed the 54th hole of the tournament, making way for a three-man playoff between himself, Humphrey and Mike Arter.

Knowing what was at stake, Humphrey took full advantage of the situation, winning the tournament on the second playoff hole. He not only goes home with the Tournament of Champions trophy but now sits atop the 2023 Player of the Year Super Senior rankings.

The playoff win also counts as a title defense for Humphrey who won the TOC super senior division in 2022 at PGA National.

Legends (70-74)

North Carolina’s Pete Allen goes wire-to-wire at The Forest, being one of two Legends to break 80 all three days en route to the championship win.

Nursing a four-stroke lead heading into the day, Allen coasted with a final round 79 to maintain his lead, closing the event out with a 13 over, 229 total. Vince Scarpetta and Bob Casamento tied for second place at 17 over.

Super Legends (75+)

After shooting his age or better the first two days, Gary Hardin (11 over) was able to battle the tough conditions just enough to take a wire-to-wire victory in his age bracket.

With scoring hard to come by, Hardin’s birdie-free 80 was enough to stave off Jack Marin, who finishes in second place at 14 over. John Blank (15 over), Gil Stenholm (16 over) and Henry Cole (16 over) round out the top five.

Three Player of the Year titles up for grabs at 2023 Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions

Player of the Year honors are up for grabs.

The best senior amateurs in the United States have descended upon The Forest Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida, for the 2023 Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions.

Three of the four age brackets are duking it out not just for the Tournament of Champions title, but for Golfweek Player of the Year honors, too. Alabama’s George Walker ran away with the Legends (ages 70-74) PoY title, clearing the field by nearly 3,000 points for the season.

With three PoY titles up for grabs, every shot matters just that much more this week.

Seniors (55-64)

Florida’s John Barry paces the senior field after 18 holes of play with an opening salvo of even-par 72.

Sitting at 2 under through five, Berry bogeyed five of his next eight holes to fall to 3 over. Locking back in, Barry closed his round strongly with birdies on Nos. 14, 16 and 18 to take a one-shot lead into Wednesday’s second round.

Four players are tied at 1 over while last year’s ToC winner, Ken Kinkopf lurks in solo sixth place at 2 over.

Third-ranked Kevin VandenBerg can pull off a massive comeback, as both No. 1 Bob Royak and No. 2 Jon Lindstrom are not in the field this week. With 800 points separating VandenBerg from the top spot, he needs a win to take a 300-point lead. A second-place finish would put him about 50 points off Royak with one point event remaining on the calendar.

No matter what happens this week, Lindstrom and VandenBerg both have an opportunity to take the top spot, as they are teeing it up next week at the Society of Seniors Ralph Bogart Tournament in Palm Harbor, Florida.

Currently tied for 27th, VandenBerg has a hill to climb, but with tough scoring conditions making the Jack Nicklaus-design playing even harder than normal, VandenBerg’s consistency can easily help catapult himself back into condition.

Super Seniors (65-69)

Fifth-ranked Greg Goode had a consistent day, as he took a one-shot lead into moving day. He closed out an even-par round with birdies on Nos. 14 and 17. Navigating the chilly and breezy conditions, he sets out to fend off Golfweek No. 2 Steve Humphrey (+1), No. 3 James Starnes (+2) and No. 7 Mike Arter (+2).

A win for Humphrey or Starnes would allow them to slide by No. 1 Marcus Beck for Player of the Year honors. A win would also make two Senior Tournament of Champions wins for Humphrey, who took the title last year at PGA National.

Legends (70-74)

North Carolina’s Pete Allen enjoys the largest lead among the four age divisions, commanding a three-shot lead following an opening round 2-over 74.

Allen peppered his card with four birdies, showing promise as the event turns to the final 36 holes.

Paul Schlachter (5 over) and John Osborne (6 over) round out the podium.

Super Legends (75+)

Texas’ Gary Hardin matched his age with a first-round 75. He holds a one-shot lead over No. 6 Super Legend, Jack Marin. Top-ranked Johnny Blank is tied for eighth while No. 2 Bill Engel is one shot behind Blank at 11 over.

With 505 points separating the two, plenty of golf is left before we crown a Player of the Year.

Annika Sorenstam puts together first bogey-free round in more than a decade at her home course to lead celebrities at LPGA Tournament of Champions

“I’m very happy where I am. But the competitive part doesn’t go away.”

ORLANDO, Florida — Annika Sorenstam put together her first bogey-free round in more than a decade to open the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, where she leads the celebrity division. Caddie Mike McGee was quick to point that out to his wife after her round.

“Obviously I’m very pleased,” said Sorenstam, who amassed 39 points in the Stableford format after shooting 3-under 69 at her home course, Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.

Sorenstam, who lost in a playoff here last year to World Series champion Derek Lowe, leads Mardy Fish by two points. When the 72-time LPGA winner was asked whether she finds herself checking out the LPGA side of the board from time to time, where Brooke Henderson leads after a 5-under 67, Sorenstam replied: “Of course.”

“I’m competitive, but it’s not like I look there and say, I wish I was there,” she said. “I’m very happy where I am.

“But the competitive part doesn’t go away.”

Brooke Henderson reacts with caddie Brittany Henderson after making her putt on the 18th green during the first round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on January 19, 2023 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

After competing in the PNC Championship with son Will last month, the family jetted off to Tahoe for several weeks of skiing at their second home. The early part of the year has been filled with foundation work, with the Hilton Grand Vacations Annika Invitational wrapping up a few days ago.

Ashleen Kaur made a 40-foot downhill putt for eagle to win by one, and with her victory, received a spot to compete in this week’s field.

“I saw her this morning, and her dad is like joy,” said Sorenstam, beaming herself. “That’s what we want to provide is amazing experiences that they won’t forget. Very happy for her.”

Sorenstam played alongside TOC rookie Gemma Dryburgh on Thursday. The Scot told Sorenstam that she competed in her junior tournament when she was 17 years old.

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“So it was pretty crazy looking back now and now playing with her in an event, said Dryburgh. “Very cool. I asked her a few questions. Hopefully I didn’t bombard her too much, but wanted to soak up as much information as I could.”

While Sorenstam didn’t get as much preparation time as she would’ve liked coming into this event, she does have new Callaway clubs in the bag.

After she put a new Paradym driver in the bag and found an extra 8 yards, Sorenstam asked Callaway for more new clubs. A recent tweak to her new Paradym irons, and she’s zipping along.

“I’m searching for things to give me one extra mile an hour of club head speed, one extra yard,” she said, “whatever I can get. And right now they’re doing it for me.”

Sorenstam said she’s starting the tee the ball higher and launch the ball higher with her driver.

“If I can get it up in the air,” she said, “it’s actually staying up there a little longer, and that’s what I need. Then I can feel like it’s almost 10 yards. That’s the goal.”

While she’s feeling good after her opening round at home, Sorenstam isn’t sure what the rest of her competitive schedule will look like this year. She will head to Portugal in two weeks to play in a senior event.

“I know obviously LPGA is not where I belong anymore,” said the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion. “So just kind of see how it goes and how I feel.”

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Tournament officials bring in 36 lockers for female players at LPGA season-opener, though the locker room remains open to VIPs

A recent storm damaged the permanent lockers that are usually in place in the women’s locker room at Lake Nona.

ORLANDO — Thirty-six temporary lockers arrived at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club on Wednesday afternoon for LPGA players to use at the Hilton Grand Vacation Tournament of Champions. Prior to that, there were no lockers available for female players in the event – both the 29 pros and four celebrities. Male celebrities in the field utilize the men’s locker room.

The new temporary lockers will be located in the club’s women’s locker room, which is located on the first level of the clubhouse along with the men’s locker room. Both areas – which include the only available showers – are also open to tournament hospitality and VIPs.

A recent storm damaged the permanent lockers that are usually in place in the women’s locker room at Lake Nona. The tournament planned to order temporary lockers to place on the second level of the clubhouse next to player dining, though that area did not include bathrooms. LPGA officials canceled the lockers on Jan. 11, citing in a statement that the tournament team opted not to pursue that option due to a prioritization of that space for other player uses.

There was no player-only locker room at last year’s TOC.

Annika Sorenstam has lived at Lake Nona for decades and is once again competing in this week’s event as a celebrity.

“It’s unfortunate that that story is kind of being discussed,” said Sorenstam, when asked about the locker room situation Wednesday morning. “I just want to focus on the game, and hopefully they can sort all the logistics out and we can focus on what’s important.”

Nelly Korda also downplayed the situation.

“Honestly, I’ve played this tournament I think from the start. Not 100 percent sure. We have never had lockers,” said Korda. “To me this event is so unique in the sense where that stuff doesn’t really bother me. You’re out here competing with different celebrities, former athletes, current athletes. … Obviously if it would be at a regular LPGA event it would bother me. At this event I think there are so many different, unique, cool stories that, as I said, it just – I didn’t even think twice about it.

As long as I have a gym to warmup in, a range, I’m very happy.”

Matilda Castren, who in 2021 became the first Finnish player to win on the LPGA, called for the tour to have a “certain standard” at each event. Ryann O’Toole put the onus on the LPGA to have a secure, player-only locker room each week.

“I put an emphasis on our tour as taking care of that for us,” said O’Toole. “The pressure should be on the tour and I don’t think anybody else.”

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Al Besselink, who won the first Tournament of Champions in 1953, might be the most interesting golfer you’ve never heard of

The Tournament of Champions dates back to 1953, when it was first played in Las Vegas.

The Sentry Tournament of Champions, the first PGA Tour event of 2023, celebrates its 25th season at Kapalua this week.

The tournament dates back to 1953, however, when it was first played in Las Vegas. It was held at the Desert Inn and the field consisted of 20 golfers, all winners from the previous year.

The winner’s check in 2023 will be $2,700,000 (out of an elevated-event purse of $15 million) but 71 years ago, Al Besselink, winner of the first Tournament of Champions, barely earned five figures.

How he was paid—and what he did with some of the money—are just some of the many interesting things about him.

Blair O’Neal opens up about fertility struggles, plans return to LPGA’s Tournament of Champions celebrity division after birth of second child

Blair O’Neal, due to have a second son in December, plans to compete in the LPGA’s Tournament of Champions.

There’s been a lot of mom talk on the LPGA of late, and at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, that extends to the celebrity division, where Blair O’Neal plans to compete for the first time as a mother of two.

O’Neal, who is due to have her second son Dec. 3, plans to compete Jan. 19-22 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando. The event brings together LPGA winners and 50 celebrities, with former pro athletes including Major League Baseball stars John Smoltz, Roger Clemens and Justin Verlander, NFL Hall of Famer Marcus Allen and country music stars Toby Keith and Lee Brice.

Danielle Kang won the 2022 edition by three strokes over Brooke Henderson.

For a while, O’Neal was the only woman who competed in the celebrity division of the TOC until LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, another mother of two, started playing a couple years ago. Sorenstam lost in a playoff last January to former MLB pitcher Derek Lowe.

O’Neal, 41, played collegiate golf at Arizona State and started a modeling career after college. In 2010, she won the Golf Channel’s Big Break Dominican Republic and then played on the then-Symetra Tour for several seasons before joining the “School of Golf” show in 2015.

In 2020, O’Neal competed in the TOC while six months pregnant with son Chrome and finished sixth, playing from the same set of tees as the men.

Blair O’Neal reports that son Chrome is obsessed with golf. (courtesy photo)

For O’Neal and husband Jeff Keiser, growing their family has been a challenge. It took several years for O’Neal to get pregnant with Chrome, undergoing six IUI (intrauterine insemination) procedures before finding success.

This time around, after a series of three IUI procedures, the couple decided to undergo IVF last spring. After the first embryo transfer failed to implant, O’Neal fell ill with West Nile virus last fall.

“I thought I was dying,” she said, “It was awful.”

After O’Neal recovered, the couple was down to their last frozen embryo.

“We had to become OK with the fact that if it didn’t work, that it was alright,” said O’Neal. “That was just the path that we were supposed to be on. I feel like once we got to that point and didn’t expect everything just to work out perfectly, it made us a little bit calmer, made us little bit happier through the process, that it was going to be OK.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 5 women in the United States with no prior births struggle with infertility, though it’s a subject that’s not often talked about.

O’Neal said they didn’t tell anyone in their families about fertility treatments that first time around.

“I get it when people don’t talk about it,” said O’Neal, “because it’s just so sensitive and you don’t want to have to explain yourself all the time when it doesn’t work. It’s just like delivering bad news when you’re already handling it yourself.”

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When she did get pregnant, O’Neal shared the good news on social media. The ugly comments and body shaming that followed, however, was the worst she’d ever experienced on social platforms. O’Neal said she has shared less this time around, “just because, who wants that?”

She reports that son Chrome is obsessed with golf. His simple mantra “see ball, see hole” would serve most well.

This week, O’Neal will be on hand to host HGV’s Viva! Las Vegas member pro-am Sept. 19-20 at Bali Hai Golf Club. O’Neal, who already has her “School of Golf” shows taped for the rest of the year, always envisioned herself as a working mom.

At the TOC in Orlando, organizers have announced a three-night private concert series that will include En Vogue, Grammy-winning country-pop star Maren Morris, pop star Ellie Goulding and Paris Hilton.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to be there,” said O’Neal of the LPGA’s biggest party.

It’s family tradition.

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Top-ranked senior Gene Elliott leads Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions

Top-ranked senior amateur Gene Elliott is back where he is most familiar: atop the leaderboard.

Gene Elliott, the top-ranked senior amateur, is back where he is most familiar: at the top of the leaderboard.

With 18 holes to play at the Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions at The Forest Country Club Bear Course in Ft. Myers, Florida, Elliott should feel pretty comfortable.

The 59-year-old from Iowa has already had a year for the record books, winning both the U.S. Senior Amateur and the British Senior Amateur. He also has a track record at this event where he has won twice since its inception in 2018.

Elliott began the second round two shots back of co-leaders Dave Bunker and Jerry Gunthorpe, who each began the day at 2 under. Carding birdies on holes Nos. 2, 3, and 4, Elliott made quick work in erasing the deficit. Despite a bogey on the par-4 16th, he did enough to take the top spot heading into Friday’s final round.

Bunker negated any ground made up on the field in the first round with a second-round 75. Having four bogeys on his card, the top-ranked Canadian senior slid from a tie for first to solo second at 1 over. As for Gunthorpe, a trio of back-to-back bogeys throughout the day saw him fall into a tie for sixth at 4 over.

Seven golfers are within five strokes of Elliott heading into Friday’s final round. The two co-leaders from round one find themselves still atop the Super Senior division. Randy King and Edward Turner account for two-thirds of tomorrow’s final pairing as they sit at 5 over with Keith McKelvy.

Defending Legend champion Jim Rollefson leads the pack that will be looking to chase Charley Yandell, who backed up his opening 1-over 73 with yet another to take a commanding four-stroke lead in the Legend division.

Gil Stenholm of Illinois bounced back from a first round 78 with a 1-over 73 on Thursday to go 7 over for the tournament. The 75-year old leads by two over Jack Marin who sits in solo second. Round 1 leader Steve Wilson and defending champion Charlie Busbee lurk at 10 and 11 over respectively.

Four golfers will take home trophies and have bragging rights as a ‘Champion of Champions’ following play on Friday.

Leaving the cold at home, Jerry Gunthorpe, Dave Bunker share lead at Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions

Jerry Gunthorpe and Dave Bunker headline the leaderboard after Round 1 at The Forest Country Club.

The runner up from the 2021 U.S. Senior Amateur, Jerry Gunthorpe, and top Canadian senior Dave Bunker headline the leaderboard after the first round of the Golfweek Senior Tournament of Champions at The Forest Country Club Bear Course in Ft. Myers, Florida.

Firing a pair of 2-under 70s on Wednesday, the snow birds flew south, leaving any rust they had at home and starting out in form to open the tournament. Gunthorpe, a native of Michigan, has been beating balls on his indoor simulator he built in his home. Even through seven holes, Gunthorpe dropped a 40-foot bomb on the par-5 ninth for an eagle, giving him a two shot swing. That putt brought him back to red numbers after trading a birdie and bogey earlier on the front nine.

With another bogey on No. 14, the 58-year old Michigander claimed another birdie on the par-4 16th to get himself back to 2-under, making the eagle on No. 9 the difference maker.

As for Bunker, his day got off to an odd start with a double-bogey on the par-4 4th. Carding a birdie on No. 9, Bunker rattled off three more birdies in a five hole stretch on the back-nine to more than negate his mistake early on in the day.

Reigning U.S. Senior Amateur champion and two-time winner of this event in 2018 and 2020, Gene Elliott sits in solo fourth, just three shots off the lead with 36 holes remaining. Separating him from the top is Joe Shaktman of Coral Spring, Florida, who opened the tournament with a 1-under 71. Nine golfers are separated by four strokes making Thursday’s moving day all the more interesting.

In the Super Senior division, defending champion Doug Hopton-Jones is tied with John Armstrong, Randy King and Edward Turner at 3 over. Charley Yandell leads the Legends flight after almost shooting his age, posting a 1-over 73. He leads by two in the age 70-74 bracket.

In the Super Legends flight for golfers 75 and up, California’s Steve Wilson, who dropped in two birdies en route to an impressive three-over 75 just two weeks shy of his 80th birthday, who leads.

Second-round action tees off at 8 a.m. ET.

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