{"id":446444,"date":"2026-02-03T11:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/446444\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T11:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T11:30:08","slug":"lpga-starting-late-sunday-in-freezing-orlando-toc-reduced-to-54-holes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/446444\/","title":{"rendered":"LPGA starting late Sunday in freezing Orlando, TOC reduced to 54 holes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated Feb. 1, 2026, 3:02 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2015 Lydia Ko was warming up on the range for a fourth time Sunday when the email came through that the final round had been canceled. Just down the way was Amy Yang, the nearest competitor to Nelly Korda at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yang has two holes left to complete of her third round and trails by three. She’ll need something spectacular to happen to push it to overtime.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m gutted that we don\u2019t get to play tomorrow,” said Ko, who trails by five and has three holes left to play.<\/p>\n

The eight LPGA players who need to finish Round 3 will resume play at 2:15 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, players in the celebrity field have been grinding at Nona since 10 a.m. ET in sub-freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

Ko agreed with the call of not starting tour players at 10 a.m., noting that the practice green was too firm.<\/p>\n

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“Whatever the exact definition of frozen means I’m not really sure, but we were literally just dropping balls, and it was bouncing up,” said Ko. “Lottie, I think, had a chip shot on the practice green run out 20, 30 yards.”<\/p>\n

Officials first pushed tee times back for LPGA players to 11 a.m. ET, then noon and then 1 p.m. ET. Korda has completed 54 holes and is leading by three at 13 under.<\/p>\n

Annika Sorenstam, another Lake Nona resident who is playing in the celebrity division, teed off on the 10th hole at 10 a.m. ET and played nine holes in 1 hour and 45 minutes. (The final round for celebrities was reduced to nine holes.) Sorenstam said the conditions Sunday morning were “very playable.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t know why they’re not playing,” said Sorenstam. “There’s pitch marks. I mean, I hit some crispy shots today and the ball even stopped. I am surprised. It’s difficult, it’s cold but it’s as fair as anything. I told J.R. we can continue.”<\/p>\n

On Saturday, high winds suspended play at 4:19 p.m. ET after Youmin Hwang’s ball rolled off the green on the exposed par-3 17th. Players who were on the course at that time felt the round should’ve been called earlier for unplayable conditions as sand was blowing out of the bunkers and white caps covered Lake Nona. Then on 17, Hwang couldn’t keep the ball on the green.<\/p>\n

Given the weekend forecast, Ko wondered if tee times should’ve been pushed up on Saturday or the LPGA players grouped together (without celebrities) so that they’d experience more similar conditions.<\/p>\n

As for why celebrities are playing when LPGA pros are not, a tour official said they lacked an optimal competitive environment for a professional event, but couldn’t elaborate on exactly what conditions would be optimal for tour players. The celebrities, the official noted, are playing in an exhibition (though there is a purse).<\/p>\n

Golf Channel’s Grant Boone noted that Korda’s 8-under performance in round three bested the field’s scoring average by nine strokes. She played seven groups ahead of the final threesome on Saturday and was on her last two holes when it really started to get ugly.<\/p>\n

After winning seven times in 2024, Korda was shut out last season. A victory at the TOC would give the two-time major winner her first title since November 2024 and her 16th overall. Korda won the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA at Nona for her first LPGA title on U.S. soil.<\/p>\n

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