Lincicome, a Diamond Resorts Celebrity, credits LPGA victories to competing against PGA TOUR Champions players & celebrities at calendar year-opening tournament in Orlando
JAN 29, 2018 (ORLANDO, Fla.) – Brittany Lincicome won her second consecutive Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic with a torrid stretch of back-nine birdies on Sunday, two weeks after listing as a key factor playing in the Diamond Resorts Invitational™ benefiting Florida Hospital for Children.
Lincicome was one of four LPGA stars who competed in the Diamond Resorts Invitational, which brought together PGA TOUR Champions players, top sports and entertainment celebrities, 12 amateur golfers and the LPGA stars to compete side-by-side for separate purses totaling $1.25 million. The unique competition was held at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Orlando and all three days were nationally televised on Golf Channel. The tournament is played in mid-January as the first pro golf tournament of the year in the continental United States. Since 2013, the event has raised over $3.1 million for Florida Hospital for Children.
At the Invitational, Lincicome was joined by Brooke Henderson, Brittany Lang and Gerina Piller in the field for the 54-hole tournament contested with a Modified Stableford format, which provides point values for double eagles, eagles, birdies, pars, bogeys and double bogeys. Henderson finished seventh at the tournament as the low LPGA player and then went to the Bahamas and led throughout the tournament until Sunday, when Lincicome took control. Last year, Lexi Thompson played against the men in the Invitational and then delivered at the Pure Silk, making it to a playoff with Lincicome.
“Two years in a row, so it’s not a coincidence,” said Lincicome, who counts Diamond Resorts™ as a sponsor and makes appearances for the vacation ownership company as a Diamond Resorts Celebrity. “The Diamond Resorts Invitational competition clearly helps the LPGA players,” she continued in a post-victory interview. “It’s amazing with the celebrities. Some of those bigger, more powerful guys hit it farther than we do and that challenges you to hit a better second shot. And that’s in competition – with scoring, standards and galleries – not a practice round with a PGA TOUR friend. It’s definitely a factor in sharpening my game.
“Playing alongside the athletes from other sports also helps me think and talk through how they approach competition. Seeing the differences really improves my physical and mental approach to the game. It doesn’t hurt that the format is fun as well.”
“It’s not often that a sponsor can actually have an impact on a player’s performance, but that may be what is happening here with the Diamond Resorts Invitational getting Brittany warmed up for the Bahamas,” said Mike Flaskey, tournament founder and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Resorts™. “Brittany is a dynamic player and an even better reflection of our company. She is genuine, approachable, a class act and a winner.”
The PGA TOUR Champions lineup in Orlando included Major champions John Daly, Nick Faldo, Jeff Sluman, Mark Calcavecchia and Lee Janzen, as well as 2017 champion Woody Austin and 2018 champion Scott Parel. The celebrity lineup featured multiple-time celebrity tournament champions Mark Mulder, Mark Rypien and 2016 and 2018 Diamond Resorts Invitational winner Mardy Fish plus top names Marcus Allen, Roger Clemens, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Ray Allen, Jeremy Roenick and Brian Urlacher.
Lincicome’s playing partners at the Invitational included Larry Fitzgerald, Josh Donaldson, Patrick Peterson, Brian Urlacher, Johnny Damon and Tim Wakefield. Henderson teed it up with John Cook, Troy Glaus and Mark Mulder.