The Galleri Classic’s assembly of golf’s legends is trending towards producing the PGA TOUR Champions’ strongest possible professional field.
Bernhard Langer, tied atop the PGA TOUR Champions’ all-time win list with 45 titles, and 34-time PGA TOUR winner Vijay Singh – World Golf Hall of Famers and past World No. 1 players – have committed to the inaugural tournament alongside reigning PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year Steven Alker, 13-time PGA TOUR Champions winner Miguel Angel Jimenez and three-time PGA TOUR Champions major winner Fred Funk.
The Galleri Classic, named after title sponsor GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test, brings PGA TOUR Champions golf back to the Coachella Valley for the first time since 1993, The Galleri Classic will feature 78 PGA TOUR Champions pros – including many World Golf Hall of Fame members — playing 54 holes (three rounds) from Friday, March 24 through Sunday, March 26 on the revered Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club.
“We are thrilled to have the likes of Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Steven Alker and Fred Funk among the opening chapter in The Galleri Classic’s history,” said Michelle DeLancy, tournament director of The Galleri Classic.
“Bernhard’s ongoing quest to be the winningest and greatest golfer in PGA TOUR Champions history is the most intriguing storyline on the Tour this year, and he can cement such status with a win at The Galleri Classic. Vijay Singh is one of the most dominant players in recent PGA TOUR history. Steven is coming off a career year and he and Miguel Angel are currently two of PGA TOUR Champions’ leading golfers. We are thrilled to welcome the jovial and delightful Fred Funk as our Media Day guest, and he has enjoyed major success on the Champions Tour.”
Langer, a 2002 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee and the 1985 and 1993 Masters champion, was the first to be recognized as the world’s top-ranked golfer when the Official World Golf Ranking was introduced in April of 1986. Today, the ironman golfer seeks to break the tie with Hale Irwin atop the PGA TOUR Champions’ all-time win list with his next victory. Both men hold 45 wins on PGA TOUR Champions. Langer already stands alone with 11 senior major championships, achieved from 2010-2019. His 42 DP World Tour titles are second all-time on that tour.
Germany’s finest golfer and someone who has made a habit of shooting his age, Langer’s stellar record on the PGA TOUR Champions not only includes his 45 wins, but it is supplemented by 40 runner-up finishes over 318 starts. Hence, he has finished first or second in less than every fourth PGA TOUR Champions start he has made, on average. He has won multiple PGA TOUR Champions tournaments in each of the past 10 seasons.
Singh, who turned 60 last week, is a 2006 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee and his 34 PGA TOUR victories rank 14th on the TOUR’s all-time win list. For much of the decade of the 2000s, Singh was regarded as one of the world’s three best golfers, along with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. He became the PGA TOUR’s second FedExCup champion, after Woods, in 2008.
Three-time major champion Singh won the 2000 Masters and the PGA Championship in 1998 and 2004 – the latter title highlighting Singh’s career year in which he won a staggering nine times on the PGA TOUR. That was sandwiched by two years (2003 and 2005) in which he won four tournaments each. Singh, the greatest golfer ever produced from Fiji, has won four titles on the PGA TOUR Champions.
Jimenez, the popular Spanish showman, won three of his 13 PGA TOUR Champions titles in 2022 on the way to finishing fifth on the Tour’s 2022 Charles Schwab Cup money list. He has won multiple PGA TOUR Champions events for four seasons running, dating back to 2018 when he won his two senior major championships – the Regions Tradition and The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex. Jimenez bagged 21 European Tour wins prior to joining the PGA TOUR Champions in 2014.
Alker, who hails from New Zealand, won four of his five PGA TOUR Champions titles last year, including the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, en route to topping the Charles Schwab Cup money list and earning the TOUR’s Player of the Year honors. In fact, Alker finished third or better in 13 of the 23 events he played in last year (including four runner-up finishes and five third-place finishes).
Funk is a nine-time winner on the PGA TOUR Champions – highlighted by major championships at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open Championship and the 2008 and 2010 Regions Tradition – and won eight titles on the PGA TOUR. Funk, who served a stint as the University of Maryland’s golf coach prior to joining the PGA TOUR, competed for the United States in the 2004 Ryder Cup and 2003 and 2005 Presidents Cup. Funk’s claim to fame in the Coachella Valley came in 2005 when he became the oldest golfer to win the Skins Game while competing against Tiger Woods, Fred Couples and Annika Sorenstam.
The Galleri Classic’s ticket offerings, which can only be secured online at the event’s official website, www.thegallericlassic.com, include:
- Single-day Grounds tickets (good any one day grounds-only admission for Pro-Am rounds March 22-23, or tournament competition rounds March 24-26) – $30
- Weekly Grounds tickets (grounds-only admission good only for competition rounds March 24-26) – $65
- Single-day Clubhouse tickets (good any one day during competition rounds March 24-26, and providing access to Mission Hills CC’s air-conditioned clubhouse as well as upgraded dining and beverage options for purchase at the Champions Café inside the clubhouse — $75
- Weekly Clubhouse tickets (good only for all competition rounds March 24-26) – $150
For those seeking the most elevated, VIP-like spectator experience, The Champions Club on 18 is a covered, open-air venue featuring a birds-eye view of the PGA TOUR Champions competition beside the island green at the historic, par-5 18th hole, next to the legendary Poppie’s Pond. This all-inclusive ticket option is only open for competition rounds (March 24-26) and offers the most premium hospitality experience to enjoy, with complimentary food and full bar service. For information on group and corporate packages for the Champions Club on 18, please inquire at info@thegallericlassic.com.
Youth 15 and under will receive free grounds admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult. All children over the age of two must have their own Clubhouse or Champions Club on 18 ticket to enter either venue.
Limited spots remain toward The Galleri Classic’s official tournament Pro-Am, played March 22-23 (Wednesday and Thursday of tournament week). More information can be found by visiting www.thegallericlassic.com. The Galleri Classic Pro-Am provides an unmatched opportunity for golf enthusiasts to go inside the ropes for a fantasy-like, bucket-list experience of playing on Mission Hills CC’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course, set up to tournament conditions, with the tournament’s professionals.
Each Pro-Am participant is paired for a round of golf with a PGA TOUR Champions pro on either March 22 or March 23, and receives a Pro-Am package that includes an invitation to The Galleri Classic’s pairings party on March 21, a valet parking pass, breakfast, lunch and on-course refreshments on one Pro-Am play day (March 22 or March 23), a premium gift package, and a grounds badge providing tournament week access.
The Galleri Classic continues to seek volunteers to sign up for the inaugural event. Prospective volunteers can find more information, and complete and submit a registration form, at www.thegallericlassic.com.
The Galleri Classic has partnered with six cancer-related non-profit organizations based in the Coachella Valley and will direct a portion of its proceeds from its inaugural event to fund the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, Desert Cancer Foundation, Eisenhower Health, Hanson House, Pendleton Foundation and Shay’s Warriors Life After Cancer.
Stay up to date with the latest information on The Galleri Classic by visiting www.thegallericlassic.com and by following the tournament on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gallericlassic), Instagram (@GalleriClassic) and Twitter (@GalleriClassic).
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