Ahead of the LPGA’s season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Charley Hull confused some of her competitors.
The Englishwoman was blowing a hair dryer on herself in the lockerroom at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando because she could barely feel her feet.
“Players were like, ‘What you doing? Are you English?’” Hull said. “I was like, ‘Honestly, I’m froze.’”
Although the event is being played in the Sunshine State, temperatures this week have felt more like the Northeast.
“It’s colder here than in the [United Kingdom] at the minute, which is a first,” Hull said earlier this week. “... Yesterday, I had three pairs of pants on. I bet people were thinking, Gosh, she enjoyed Christmas a bit too much.”
Friday’s round boasted benign conditions, but the weekend will be played under an extreme cold warning. The temperature will reportedly dip into the 20s late Saturday into Sunday, with wind gusts up to 25 mph. Sunday’s high is 43 degrees, causing the LPGA to make some scheduling changes for its final day.
The final-round field will be reduced to 60 people, cutting the number of celebrities and amateurs by 30 (the celebrity field will be 21 players ranked by score after the third round). As a result, the television schedule will be spread across Peacock (1–2 p.m. ET) and NBC (2–4 p.m.). If the round goes past 4 p.m., coverage will shift to Golf Channel.
These conditions will surely make an interesting watch, much to the 39 LPGA players’ disdain.
“Saturday should be really windy and then Sunday, I don’t even know if we can be able to play,” world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul said Thursday. “The golf ball would be like ice on it, so we’ll see.”
That means a little extra preparation is needed for those hoping to make a run over the final two rounds.
“I think the weather is going to get a little worse,” said world No. 2 Nelly Korda, who was three strokes back of Lydia Ko’s and Lottie Woad’s 36-hole lead, “so I’m going to go to the putting green, go to the range because I wasn’t hitting it the best today. Just going to figure some things out ahead of the weekend.”
However, Korda and her fellow competitors will be battling more than just the rest of the field this weekend in hopes of claiming the LPGA’s first title of 2026.
“Lots of layers, hopefully where I can still swing,” Korda said. “Hand warmers, gloves, I have everything with me, so hopefully I can stay warm.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Is This Florida? Extreme Cold Warning, Wind Wreaking Havoc on LPGA’s Season Opener .
