The Rolex Tournament of Champions is by definition, the assimilation of champions. With 132 players set to compete at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pa., July 8-12, the 2013 field includes 97 AJGA champions looking to capture the organizations oldest title.
As the longest-running tournament on the AJGA schedule, the event has produced some of golfs biggest names. The 2013 U.S. Open field included 36 competitors who played in the Rolex Tournament of Champions, including past champion of both events, Webb Simpson. Notable alumni who competed in both events include Tiger Woods, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and three-time Rolex Tournament of Champions victor, Phil Mickelson.
Former Rolex Tournament of Champion winner and Rolex Junior Player of the Year Inbee Park leads this weeks U.S. Womens Open field alongside 45 competitors who have competed in the Rolex Tournament of Champions. Four players in the field are current AJGA members who will compete at Sebonack Golf Club before heading to Lancaster Country Club.
A first-time AJGA venue, Lancaster Country Club is the site of the 2015 U.S. Womens Open, with the Girls Division foreshadowing future U.S. Womens Open participants. Will someone emulate Parks trophy collection from Rolex Tournament of Champions to U.S. Womens Open?
Former champions have gone on to succeed at the amateur and collegiate levels. Seventy-six players in the 2013 field have committed to play golf at the collegiate level. Two-time Rolex Tournament of Champions winner Beth Bauer won the U.S. Girls Amateur in 1997. Past champions Charles Howell III and Grace Park went on to collect individual titles at the NCAA Championship. Most recently, 2008 champion Cory Whitsett helped Alabama win its first NCAA title in June.