Out of the Rough: Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (2026)

The LPGA Tour is set to kick-off its 2026 season just as it has done since 2019, with the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.

This event invites tournament winners across the past two seasons who will play alongside a list of celebrities.

The Field

As previously mentioned, this event welcomes Tour winners from across the past two seasons.

In total, 39 professionals will play alongside a list of celebrities.

The likes of Jeeno Thitikul, Miyu Yamashita, Rio Takeda, Nelly Korda, Nasa Hataoka, Somi Lee, A Lim Kim, Mao Saigo, Akie Iwai and Charley Hull help headline this star studded field.

A Lim Kim comes in as the defending champion, having used a surge of birdies on the final five holes to overtake then leader Korda to claim the title.

Other former winners of this event teeing it up this week include Ko (2024) and Brooke M. Henderson (2023.)

The Course

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, named for an adjacent body of water that borders the entire left side of the 18th hole.

It sits just east of the Orlando International Airport in Florida.

It plays as a par-72 at 6,624 yards and is a solo Tom Fazio design.

Lake Nona is regarded as one of the finest gated golf community developments in the whole country and is said to be one of the best golf courses in the entire Orlando-area, Florida area - which is saying something.

It was carved through a central Florida jungle of pine, cypress and palmetto trees. It features lagoons and exposed washed sand areas.

The front nine begins under a canopy of tall trees and the course becomes much more open on the back-nine with the final five holes playing around natural inland lakes.

Of course, there is a plethora of strategically placed bunkers plotted around the course.

The greens here at Lake Nona are also described as “excellent and demanding.”

The 15th hole is the course’s signature hole as it hugs the shoreline of Buck lake and swings slightly left from the tee. It features a long fairway bunker that separates the fairway from a large body of water to the left.

The finishing hole is a par-four and is notably difficult due to the water that comes into play alongside the entire length of the fairway.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a five-percent chance of precipitation on Thursday, a zero-percent chance on Friday, a 50-percent chance on Saturday and a 35-percent chance on Sunday. Temperatures will begin on Thursday at 59-degrees before reaching 60-degrees on Friday. Temperatures will then fall to 58-degrees across both days of the weekend. Winds will begin at 11 miles-per-hour on Thursday before settling to eight miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will then increase to 12 miles-per-hour across the weekend. 

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Scrambling

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Birdie-or-Better Percentage

• Par-Five Average Scoring

Betting Card

Charley Hull (+1200)

Outside of Jeeno Thitkul, who obviously tops my stats-based model, Charley Hull is next in line. She finished last season fifth on Tour in scrambling, eighth in par-five average scoring, 12th in birdie-or-better percentage, 13th in SG: TTG, 14th in SG: PUTT and 20th in sand saves percentage. She finished last season with a 19th place finish at the CME Group Tour Championship and fourth at The ANNIKA. She last played this event in 2024 where she placed T7th. She also placed T2nd here in 2023. 

Akie Iwai (+3100)

Iwai capped off her 2025 campaign with a 19th place finish at the CME Group Tour Championship. She also finished last season fifth on Tour in birdie-or-better percentage, 14th in SG: TTG, 18th in sand saves percentage, 28th in par-five average scoring, 47th in scrambling and 63rd in SG: PUTT. She’ll be making her tournament debut this week.