RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. – The field for The Galleri® Classic Presented by Spotlight 29 Casino was finalized on Friday with 75-of-78 players set for the third-annual PGA TOUR Champions golf tournament, contested March 28-30 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at iconic Mission Hills Country Club.
The Galleri Classic, named after title sponsor GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test, is a 54-hole event and next week’s winner will be awarded $330,000 from a $2.2 million purse.
The Galleri Classic field includes notable golfers such as: 2024 champion Retief Goosen and 2023 Galleri Classic champ David Toms; 2023 and 2024 tournament runner-up and reigning PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year and Charles Schwab Cup champion Steven Alker; World Golf Hall of Famers and past World No. 1 golfers Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer, PGA TOUR Champions’ all-time leader in wins (47) and senior major titles (12); two-time major champion John Daly; 2024 PGA TOUR Champions Rookie of the Year and 2024 Galleri Classic runner-up Ricardo Gonzalez, and 2023 PGA TOUR Champions Player of the Year and Charles Schwab Cup winner Steve Stricker, who will raise awareness of multi-cancer early detection as a GRAIL ambassador for the second consecutive year.
“We are delighted to showcase the very best of PGA TOUR Champions golf in the Coachella Valley for a third year at The Galleri Classic, an event the pros love coming back to because they know they will tee it up on one of the circuit’s elite golf courses in front of a desert fanbase that has followed these golfers since their PGA TOUR days,” said Michelle DeLancy, tournament director of The Galleri Classic.
“For as much golf activity that occurs across all tours and levels of competition in Southern California, there isn’t another tournament for the rest of the year that boasts the amount of Hall of Famers, major champions and past World No. 1 golfers as The Galleri Classic.”
Daily ticket options for The Galleri Classic, including official Pro-Am rounds on Wednesday and Thursday (March 26-27) and three rounds of competition from March 28-30, are on sale at the tournament’s website, www.TheGalleriClassic.com.
General spectator parking (March 26-30) is located off-site at 675 Crossley Road, Palm Springs, CA 92264, with free shuttles transporting fans to and from the tournament. Parking passes can be purchased in advance on the tournament’s website for $10, or upon arrival on-site for $15.
Additionally, The Galleri Classic will offer complimentary luxury shuttle service between Spotlight 29 Casino (pick-up and drop-off at the casino’s valet stand) and Mission Hills CC every 30 minutes from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on competition days (March 28-30).
The Galleri Classic awarded exemptions to Mario Tiziani and Notah Begay III.
Begay, PGA TOUR Champions’ only Native American as a member of the Navajo/San Felipe & Isleta Pueblo people, will return as a special guest instructor for the tournament’s second-annual youth golf clinic – in association with the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians and Spotlight 29 Casino and with assistance from First Tee Coachella Valley – on Tuesday, March 25 at 4 p.m. at Coachella Crossroads on the grounds of Spotlight 29 Casino. The clinic will focus on the fundamentals of golf and is open to children aged 17 and under who are a part of a federally recognized Tribe in Southern California.
Also on March 25, The Galleri Classic’s final three berths will be determined at the tournament’s 18-hole open qualifying event, held within the Coachella Valley at Bermuda Dunes Country Club (Classic course) in Bermuda Dunes, Calif.
By the numbers, The Galleri Classic field features:
- Seven World Golf Hall of Famers – Bernhard Langer (Class of 2002), Vijay Singh (Class of 2006), Jose Maria Olazabal (Class of 2009), Ernie Els (Class of 2011), Fred Couples and Colin Montgomerie (Class of 2013), and Retief Goosen (Class of 2019).
- Six of the 25 World No. 1-ranked golfers in the Official World Golf Ranking (since it was created in 1986) – Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Tom Lehman, Ernie Els, David Duval and Vijay Singh.
- Eighteen (18) major champions on the PGA TOUR and 23 PGA TOUR Champions major winners. The following eight golfers have won major titles on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions:
- Bernhard Langer (1985 and 1993 Masters; 12 senior majors)
- Tom Lehman (1996 Open Championship; three senior majors)
- Ernie Els (1994 and 1997 U.S. Open and 2002 and 2012 Open Championship; one senior major)
- Fred Couples (1992 Masters; two senior majors)
- Vijay Singh (2000 Masters, 1998 and 2004 PGA Championship; one senior major)
- Retief Goosen (2001 and 2004 U.S. Open; one senior major)
- Darren Clarke (2011 Open Championship; one senior major)
- David Toms (2001 PGA Championship; one senior major)
Other major champions on the PGA TOUR (without a senior major): Mark Calcavecchia, Stewart Cink, John Daly, David Duval, Lee Janzen, Justin Leonard, Jose Maria Olazabal, Corey Pavin, Mike Weir and Y.E. Yang.
- Ten champions in the Coachella Valley at The American Express (PGA TOUR) – Brian Gay (2013), Mark Wilson (2012), Chad Campbell (2006), Justin Leonard (2005), Mike Weir (2003), Joe Durant (2001), David Duval (1999), Fred Couples (1998), Corey Pavin (1987, 1991) and Jay Haas (1988).
Stay updated on The Galleri Classic at www.TheGalleriClassic.com and by following the event on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gallericlassic), Instagram (@GalleriClassic) and Twitter (@GalleriClassic).
The Galleri Classic Presented by Spotlight 29 Casino field (75 of 78 players)
Aguilar, Felipe
Alker, Steven
Ames, Stephen
Andrade, Billy
Appleby, Stuart
Austin, Woody
Barron, Doug
Begay III, Notah +
Bertsch, Shane
Bjørn, Thomas
Bransdon, David
Broadhurst, Paul
Calcavecchia, Mark
Campbell, Chad
Caron, Jason
Cejka, Alex
Chalmers, Greg
Choi, K.J.
Cink, Stewart
Clarke, Darren
Couples, Fred
Daly, John
DiMarco, Chris
Duke, Ken
Dunlap, Scott
Durant, Joe
Duval, David
Els, Ernie
Estes, Bob
Flesch, Steve
Frazar, Harrison
Frost, David
Fujita, Hiroyuki
Funk, Fred
Gay, Brian
Gonzalez, Ricardo
Goosen, Retief
Goydos, Paul
Green, Richard
Haas, Jay
Hensby, Mark
Jacobson, Freddie
Jaidee, Thongchai
Janzen, Lee
Jiménez, Miguel Angel
Jobe, Brandt
Jones, Brendan
Langer, Bernhard
Lehman, Tom
Leonard, Justin
Maggert, Jeff
Mayfair, Billy
McCarron, Scott
Mediate, Rocco
Montgomerie, Colin
O’Neal, Tim
Olazábal, José María
Pampling, Rod
Pavin, Corey
Percy, Cameron
Pernice Jr., Tom
Petrovic, Tim
Quigley, Brett
Singh, Vijay
Stricker, Steve
Tanigawa, Ken
Tiziani, Mario +
Toms, David
Triplett, Kirk
Verplank, Scott
Walker, Mark
Weekley, Boo
Weir, Mike
Wilson, Mark
Yang, Y.E.
3 Tuesday qualifiers (TBD)
+ Sponsor Exemption
MEDIA CONTACT:
Damian Secore, Brener Zwikel & Associates
951-454-6047; damians@bzapr.com
