Updated Jan. 30, 2026, 1:09 p.m. ET
Extreme cold weather in central Florida has forced scheduling changes for the LPGA’s season-opening tournament.The final round field will be cut to 60 participants, reducing the number of celebrity players and eliminating all amateurs.Sunday’s final round broadcast will be split across Peacock, NBC, and the Golf Channel due to the scheduling shift.Temperatures are expected to drop as low as 24 degrees with wind gusts up to 25 mph.
With central Florida under an extreme cold watch this weekend, the LPGA has made scheduling changes for the final round of its season-opening event, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
A freeze watch is in effect for the Orlando area from 7 p.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Sunday. Overnight temperatures will dip down to 24 degrees Sunday morning with a high of 47 and winds gusting up to 25 mph.
With final-round tee times scheduled to be pushed back considerably, Sunday’s field will be cut to 60 total participants (10 fewer groups, 30 fewer players). The 39 LPGA players won’t be impacted, but the celebrity field will be reduced to 21 after the third round. In addition, none of the amateurs in the field will play on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the winner won’t be decided on NBC. With track and field coverage immediately following LPGA coverage at 4 p.m., the broadcast will shift to Golf Channel for the finish.
Sunday coverage begins on Peacock from 1-2 p.m. ET, followed by NBC from 2-4 p.m. and then Golf Channel from 4-6 p.m.
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Friday’s forecast at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club is enviable to the rest of the country, with temperatures warming up to 60 mid-morning and to the low 70s by early afternoon.
On Saturday, the temperatures will dip down to a high of 56 with winds gusting up to 35 mph.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul looked at the weekend forecast and called it brutal.
“I mean, Saturday should be really windy and then Sunday I don’t even know if we can be able to play,” she said after an opening 67. “The golf ball would be like ice on it, so we’ll see.”
Early in the week, Charley Hull was using a hair dryer in the locker room to warm up.
“The players were like, what you doing? Are you English? I was like, honestly, I’m froze,” said Hull with a laugh.
