Adding to its impressive roster of iconic, accomplished golfers that will surely resonate with golf fans flocking to the Coachella Valley later this month, The Galleri® Classic announced three-time major champion and newly-minted World Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2024 inductee Padraig Harrington, 2001 and 2004 U.S. Open champion and World Golf Hall of Famer Retief Goosen, former World No. 1 and 1996 Open Championship winner Tom Lehman, Rocco Mediate and Brian Gay have pledged their commitments to the inaugural PGA TOUR Champions tournament.
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, past World No. 1-ranked golfers and major champions — playing 54 holes (three rounds) from Friday, March 24 through Sunday, March 26 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club.
“The Galleri Classic is aiming to have the PGA TOUR Champions’ entire All-Star lineup, and adding the commitments of Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, Tom Lehman, Rocco Mediate and Brian Gay furthers that notion,” said Michelle DeLancy, The Galleri Classic’s tournament director. “We are ecstatic to welcome this quintet to Mission Hills to help mold a first-class field in our first year.”
Harrington made a major splash on PGA TOUR Champions in 2022 by winning Rookie of the Year honors. He won four titles, claiming his first U.S. Senior Open, and finished runner-up in four other events, including in senior majors at the Regions Tradition and The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex. He closed the 2022 campaign by winning the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and finishing No. 2 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.
Prior to joining the PGA TOUR Champions, Harrington won six PGA TOUR titles with half of them coming in majors at the 2007 and 2008 Open Championship and the 2008 PGA Championship on the way to becoming the 2008 PGA TOUR Player of the Year. Abroad, the Irishman won 15 DP World Tour events, played on six European Ryder Cup teams while captaining Team Europe in 2020, and was the DP World Tour’s Golfer of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and its Order of Merit winner in 2006.
Goosen, the six-time Presidents Cup International squad member, was a seven-time PGA TOUR winner, a 12-time champion on the DP World Tour, and has won twice on the PGA TOUR Champions, including a major triumph at the 2019 Kaulig Companies Championship.
In 2019, the South African was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and named the PGA TOUR Champions Rookie of the Year. Goosen’s golfing accolades abroad include 12 DP World Tour titles, the Tour’s 2001 Player of the Year award and its Order of Merit crowns in 2001 and 2002.
Lehman owns 12 PGA TOUR Champions triumphs and three senior major titles, achieved at the 2010 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and consecutive Regions Tradition titles in 2011 and 2012. The 2011 PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year and a five-time PGA TOUR winner, Lehman spent one week as the world’s top-ranked golfer in 1997, which was one year after winning The Open Championship and the TOUR Championship and being named the PGA TOUR’s Player of the Year.
The affable Mediate owns four PGA TOUR Champions titles, including a senior major at the 2016 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, to go along with his six PGA TOUR victories. Somewhat famously, Mediate was also the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up (via a playoff) to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines GC.
Gay is in his second season on PGA TOUR Champions and also continues to split his time on the PGA TOUR, where his fifth victory came as recent as 2020. Gay also won the Coachella Valley’s annual PGA TOUR event, The American Express, in 2013.
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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