The caddies have walked the course, the grounds have been manicured, and a winning prize of $240,000 is on the line, as the first round of the 8th annual Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic has begun at Fallen Oak in Biloxi.
This is the fifth of 26 events on the 2017 PGA Tour Champions circuit. Of the 79 players competing, a few are household names including two-time Masters Champion and World Cup Hall of Fame member Jose Mario Olazabal, the defending champion and upcoming U.S. Captain for the President’s Cup, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and LSU alum David Toms.
“It’s just the who’s-who of golf from the last 25 years,” said Dave Miller spokesmen for tournament sponsor C-Spire.
The tournament will also feature golf’s “bad boy” John Daly.
“He’s an institution because I think what he does for this tour, in cities where this tour comes into [is he] allows people to come to probably come to this golf course that may not have otherwise,” said Steve Neiman, Tournament Direct of the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic.
Along with entertaining golf enthusiast, the tournament has helped raise more than a million dollars for local charities since its inception, according to Miller.
“The tournament has raised more than $1.5 million for Mississippi charities, a big chunk of that going to the Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” said Miller.
He added that the tournament has also brought in more than $100 million in economic impact to the gulf coast.
The first round of the tournament began Friday at 10 a.m. Rounds Saturday and Sunday will begin at 9 a.m.
