The Skins Game enjoyed arguably its finest moments at Trilogy. The only time the event was played by Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam was at Trilogy at La Quinta.
Fred Funk provided one of the funniest moments in 2005
when Annika Sorenstam out drove him on the third hole which then caused Funk to ‘don’ a pink skirt which he pulled out of the bag and wore all the way to the green. High on
entertainment value for the millions watching on television and leaving all three of his fellow competitors laughing and ‘in stitches’, Funk then proceeded to clean up both days taking the title with a total of 15 Skins and $925,000.00. Incidentally Funk became the oldest Skins Game winner in the history of the event, surpassing Gary Player who accomplished that feat in 1983 at the age of 48.
Fred Couples was shut in 2005 for the first time in the history of his participation in the event. Couples won the Skins Game at Trilogy in 2004 and 2003 with winning totals of $605,000 & $640,000 respectively, and holds several Skins Game records including victories (5), appearance (13) and earnings ($3,515,000).
The Skins Game is traditionally one of the most widely viewed golf events since its inception in 1983. The Don Ohlmeyer/Gary Frank creation began in 1983 with then golf’s greatest players-Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson-all competed to make the Skins Game an instant golfing television success.
That tradition continued to be inovative with the addition of LPGA super-star Annika Sorenstam beginning with the 2003 Skins Game, where she won $100,000 the first day. Annika was shut out of the money in 2004 and again in 2005. Since 2006, the Skins Game has moved on to other locations, but the marquee names were at its highest level during the Trilogy tenure.
