Third Annual Diamond Resorts Invitationaltm Reunites PGA TOUR Champions Players, LPGA Stars, Celebs In Golf's Most Unique Competition, January 12-14

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 10, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Diamond Resorts Invitationaltm benefiting Florida Hospital for Children returns with its popular format featuring PGA TOUR Champions players, LPGA stars and sports/entertainment celebrities, January 12-14, 2018 at Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World® Resort in Orlando, Florida, airing live on Golf Channel.

Last year's combination of golf professionals and celebrities competing together for separate purses totaling $1.2 million captured the golf world's imagination and has sparked a high demand among players for limited spots at this year's tournament.

"We caught lightning in a bottle," said Michael Flaskey, Chief Executive Officer, Diamond Resorts International®. "The tournament has been an enormous hit, being nationally televised on Golf Channel, becoming part of the PGA TOUR Champions Challenge Season schedule and the best part of all is that we've raised some serious money for Florida Hospital for Children."

The 2018 tournament will feature up to 27 PGA TOUR Champions players, five LPGA stars and 46 top-tier athletes and entertainment celebrities in two distinct competitions, utilizing a Modified Stableford scoring format, which awards points as opposed to strokes.

PGA TOUR Champions and LPGA players will compete for $750,000 over the 54-hole tournament, while the celebrities will play for a $500,000 purse. Threesomes will include one PGA TOUR Champions Tour or LPGA professional and two celebrities all playing their own ball and competing from the same tees.

Among the early commitments is Brittany Lincicome, who credited her LPGA season-opening win in the 2017 Pure Silk Bahamas Classic to her competing against the PGA TOUR Champions players and her LPGA colleagues the previous week in the Diamond Resorts Invitationaltm.  Country music artists Cole Swindell and Lee Brice are also competing in the tournament and doubling as the featured entertainment for the week's festivities. Other celebrities expected to attend are PGA TOUR Champions star John Cook, former Web.com tour player and country music songwriter and musician Colt Ford, Washington Redskins Super Bowl MVP quarterback Mark Rypien, and baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, all are Diamond Resorts Ambassadors.

The Diamond Resorts Invitationaltm is the PGA TOUR Champions final Challenge Season tournament before the Regular Season opening event the following week, January 18-20 at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai at Hualalai Golf Club in Ka'upulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

SOURCE Diamond Resorts Invitational