Out of the Rough: Grant Thornton Invitational (2025)

Some of the best men and women golfers from across the world come together for this week’s Grant Thornton Invitational.

This is a very unique format for multiple reasons but none more notable than it being a mixed invitational with stars from both the PGA and LPGA tours teaming up to take to the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

This year marks the third edition of the Grant Thornton Invitational, having taken over for the now defunct QBE Shootout and was first staged in 2023.

Prior to joining the schedule in 2023, a format featuring pairings of men-and-women had been absent since the JC Penney Classic in 1999.

The Format

On top of the uniqueness of the men and women playing together, this event will be played over three days with each day featuring a different playing format.

On Friday, the duos will play a scramble. Here, each player will hit a tee shot and each team selects what ball to use. From there, players hit their next shot and continue the process until the hole is complete.

On Saturday, teams then take part in a more traditional, foursome format. This is a format we see at the Ryder and Solheim Cups. Essentially, each golfer alternates shots until the hole is complete. Additionally, one golfer tees off on odd holes as the other tees off on even holes.

The tournament finishes on Sunday with a modified four-balls format. This format is new to team play and adds some flair to the traditional four-ball format. In this format, both golfers tee off but then they switch balls for their second shots. They then use the same ball from their second shot to complete the hole. The lowest score of the two is used on that respective hole. 

The Field

There will be 16-teams, or 32-golfers, taking part this week.

Of those in attendance, Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp highlight this week’s field with the pairings of Nelly Korda and Denny McCarthy, Lydia Ko and Jason Day, Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners and Charley Hull and Daniel Berger worth noting.

Knapp and Tavatanakit come in as the defending champions, having topped a pairing of Tom Kim and Atthaya Thitikul by a stroke a season ago.

Day and Ko topped Conners and Henderson by a stroke in 2023 to claim the maiden Grant Thornton Invitational title.

The full field is as follows:

• Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp

• Lydia Ko and Jason Day

• Lilia Vu and Tony Finau

• Nelly Korda and Denny McCarthy

• Jessica Korda and Bud Cauley

• Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners

• Andrea Lee and Billy Horschel

• Charley Hull and Daniel Berger

• Lottie Woad and Luke Clanton

• Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark

• Jennifer Kupcho and Chris Gotterup

• Rose Zhang and Michael Kim

• Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak

• Maja Stark and Neal Shipley

• Angel Yin and Tom Hoge

• Megan Khang and Keith Mitchell

The Course

The Tiburon Golf Club’s Gold Course comes in as a par-72 at 7,382 yards for the men and 6,556 yards for the women. 

It is the design of golf hall-of-famer Greg Norman and is often ranked as one of the best courses in Florida that anyone can play as a semi-private club.

Off-the-tee golfers will be faced with a slew of obstacles.

Most notably, water comes into play on 15 holes this week.

Additionally, numerous stacked sod wall bunkers and red-orange coquina sand waste bunkers are strategically placed throughout the course.

Although the venue lacks conventional rough, the fairways are lined with pine straw instead.

Turf across the entirety of this course is maintained at one-half inch or less meaning that the fairways will run fast-and-true, making them hard to hold and bringing the hazards listed above into play when even finding the fairways.

The greens are laid in a Tifeagle Bermuda and can measure up to 12-to-13 on the Stimpmeter, making them some of the fastest in the region and some of the fastest greens faced all season.

In all, this course follows Norman’s philosophy of maximizing the natural allure of the land. All plant life is native to the area and there are no altered undulations not native to the original area.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is a 45-percent chance of evening showers on Friday, a 35-percent chance of morning showers on Saturday and just a five-percent chance of precipitation on Sunday. Temperatures will be the highest on Friday at 79-degrees before settling to 76-degrees across the weekend. Winds will be at the lowest on Friday at eight-miles-per-hour before increasing to 12 miles-per-hour on Saturday and 13 miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Driving Accuracy Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Par 5 Scoring Average

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Scrambling Percentage

• Birdie-or-Better Percentage

Betting Card

Check back Monday (12/8) for my full betting card!

2024 Betting Card

• N/a

2023 Betting Card

• Justin Rose & Charley Hull (+1000) - T9th

• Denny McCarthy & Meghan Khang (+1600) - T4th