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 organization’s oldest title.
As the longest-running tournament on the AJGA schedule, the
event has produced some of golf’s 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 week’s U.S. Women’s 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. Women’s Open, with the Girls Division foreshadowing future
U.S. Women’s Open participants. Will someone emulate Park’s trophy collection
from Rolex Tournament of Champions to U.S. Women’s 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.
Learn more about the Rolex Tournament of Champions and join
the conversation on Twitter by tweeting @AJGAGolf and using the hashtag
#RolexTOC.