GERINA PILLER TO PLAY IN DIAMOND RESORTS INVITATIONAL – JOINS FIELD OF LPGA, PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
AND CELEBRITY STARS, JAN 12-14
Expectant mom opens 2018 season at tournament benefiting
Florida Hospital for Children
Jan. 3, 2018 (ORLANDO, Fla.) – Gerina
Piller, carving a popular niche as a late blooming American LPGA star,
will make her 2018 season debut at the Diamond Resorts Invitational™
benefiting Florida Hospital for Children, Jan. 12-14 at Tranquilo Golf
Club at Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort in
Orlando, Florida.
Pregnant
with her first child during the LPGA’s CME Tour Championship in
November, it was assumed Piller’s next professional tournament would be
in the gallery rooting for her husband, Martin Piller, who plays on the
PGA TOUR.
“I’m
feeling good and I want to stay sharp, so I’m looking forward to teeing
it up against the men, both pros and celebrities,” said Piller. “The
unique format of the Diamond Resorts Invitational™ makes it special and
it’s important that the LPGA is a key component.”
Nationally
televised all three days on Golf Channel, the Diamond Resorts
Invitational™ benefits Florida Hospital for Children, recently named one
of the top children’s hospitals in the country. The event is recognized
as the most unique format in tournament golf, with golf professionals
and celebrities competing side-by-side for separate purses totaling
$1.25 million. Last year’s event captured the golf world’s imagination,
raising curiosity and popularity among media, sponsors and the public to
unanticipated levels.
“Gerina
is an incredibly talented golfer and we’re excited to have her join us
on the course in just a few days,” said Mike Flaskey, Chief Executive
Officer of Diamond Resorts International®. “No one expected her to
compete this year, so we’re honored she decided to join our field of
LPGA stars for the tournament.”
As
opposed to today’s younger generation of golf professionals, who
started playing as kids and found success in their teenage years,
32-year-old Piller is cut from the old-school cloth. She is an
all-around athlete, who excelled in multiple sports before finding her
way to golf at age 15. She went on to succeed on the collegiate level
and then with the LPGA.
Her unique path to success is an exception to the rule in the women’s
golf world of today, making her rise through the American ranks a
captivating flashback. Her story and route to stardom reflect past stars
such as her mentor, Juli Inkster.
Piller
turned professional in 2007 and joined the LPGA Tour in 2011. She
played in 22 tournaments in 2017, making the cut in 21 with five top 10
finishes, including a third place, earning $541,977 and finishing 34th
on the money list. She’s played in the last three Solheim Cups,
dropping an 8-foot putt on the 18th hole during the 2015 competition in
Germany to stave-off a European victory in an incredible comeback.
Piller also represented the U.S. at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, finishing tied for 11th place.
The
2018 Diamond Resorts Invitational™ will feature 28 PGA TOUR Champions
players, four LPGA stars: Piller and Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang,
and Brooke Henderson (Paula Creamer recently withdrew from the event to
provide her surgically repaired wrist additional time to recuperate);
and 52 top-tier athletes and entertainment celebrities in two distinct
competitions utilizing a Modified Stableford scoring format, which
awards points as opposed to strokes – similar to the PGA TOUR’s
Barracuda Championship.
Both
PGA TOUR Champions and LPGA players will compete for $750,000 over the
54-hole tournament, while the celebrities will play for a $500,000
purse. Threesomes will include one PGA TOUR Champions Tour or LPGA
professional and two celebrities. The singular format allows for a
distinct competition, as all professionals and celebrities play their
own ball and compete from the same tees for 54 holes.
The
Diamond Resorts Invitational™ is the PGA TOUR Champions final Challenge
Season tournament before the Regular Season opening event the following
week, January 19-21 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai
in Hawaii.
Tournament
week will begin Thursday, January 11 with the fifth-annual Brian Gay
Pro-Am presented by Diamond Resorts International®. Gay, a four-time PGA
TOUR winner and longtime Orlando resident, will serve as host of the
18-hole celebrity-amateur competition, which will feature foursomes
comprised of three amateurs and one celebrity or PGA TOUR player. An
evening dinner and concert at Mystic Dunes Resort & Golf Club, one
of Diamond Resorts’ flagship resorts in Orlando, will complement
Thursday’s events.
Saturday
evening will be a highlight of the tournament with a gourmet dinner and
concert featuring country music stars Jana Kramer and Cole Swindell,
both Diamond Resorts Ambassadors. Previous headliners have featured Jake
Owen, Huey Lewis and the News, and Darius Rucker. The accompanying live
and silent auctions have helped raised more than $2.3 million for
Florida Hospital for Children.
The tournament site, Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Orlando, is unique to Central Florida for its varying elevation, abundant wildlife and protected wetlands. Originally
built in 1992 and designed by Tom Fazio, the golf course was enhanced
by Fazio for its October 2014 reopening. The course is a par 71 and
plays to 6,901 yards.
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