Tournament officials announced the remaining 10 teams that will compete in the Grant Thornton Invitational set to debut December 8-10, 2023, at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Tournament officials announced the remaining 10 teams that will compete in the Grant Thornton Invitational set to debut December 8-10, 2023, at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
NAPLES, Fla. (October 25, 2023)—Tournament officials today announced the remaining 10 teams that will compete in the Grant Thornton Invitational set to debut December 8-10, 2023, at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
The final 10 teams for the inaugural event include:
Collectively, this year’s field has a combined 141 LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR career victories, with 25 of those wins occurring this season. There are 11 major champions in the field, including all five major winners from the 2023 LPGA Tour season. Additionally, 12 of the LPGA Tour participants competed in this year’s Solheim Cup, while three PGA TOUR players competed in last month’s Ryder Cup. Eleven members of the field have represented their country in the Olympics, while nine different countries will be represented in Naples.
“Interest from professionals on both tours was incredibly strong, and we are thrilled with the compelling mixed teams and world-class players heading to Naples this December,” said Rob Hartman, Grant Thornton Invitational Tournament Director. “These final 10 teams are comprised of many of the game’s rising stars, current year LPGA Tour and PGA TOUR winners, and members of both the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup teams. Tournament partners, fans and our global television audience are sure to enjoy an exciting and unique three days of competition.”
The tournament’s 32-player field, which is evenly comprised of PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour professionals playing on 16 mixed teams, will compete for an equal purse of $4 million, while also experiencing equal visibility and a different format each day. The unique and exciting approach during the three-day professional competition will include Scramble, Foursomes and a Modified Four-Ball format. More information on the format can be found here: Grant Thornton Invitational golf tournament unveils three distinct formats for mixed-team play.
WWGR = Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings; OWGR = Official World Golf Ranking
Nelly Korda (WWGR: 6) and Tony Finau (OWGR: 22):
Korda, 25, has accumulated eight career victories and Finau, 34, has six. Finau won twice this season and Korda has recorded seven top 10 finishes so far. Combined, they have 11 top 10 finishes this season. Both have been members of a national team multiple times. Korda is one of 12 LPGA Tour players in the field who competed in this year’s Solheim Cup. Both Korda and Finau are also Grant Thornton ambassadors.
Lexi Thompson (WWGR: 26) and Rickie Fowler (OWGR: 24):
Thompson, 28, and Fowler, 34, have a combined 17 career titles as professionals. Thompson is an 11- time LPGA Tour winner, two-time Olympian and has played on six U.S. Solheim Cup teams, including this year. Fowler has five Ryder Cup appearances, including this year, and played in one Olympics. He is also a Grant Thornton ambassador.
Lilia Vu (WWGR: 1) and Joel Dahmen (OWGR: 153):
Vu, 26, is a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, with all three victories coming this season, including two major championships. She is currently No. 1 in the world and is another player in the field who appeared in the Solheim Cup this year. Dahmen, 35, has won once on the PGA TOUR and five of his 22 career top 10 finishes have occurred this season.
Brooke Henderson (WWGR: 12) and Corey Conners (OWGR: 33):
This Canadian team has a combined 15 career victories and represented Team Canada at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Henderson, 26, is a two-time major champion and Conners, 31, has won the Valero Texas Open for his two career titles. This team has a total of seven top 10 finishes this year, two of which were victories.
Rose Zhang (WWGR: 32) and Sahith Theegala (OWGR: 29):
This is the youngest team in the field, with Zhang age 20 and Theegala age 25. Both of these West Coast players (Zhang attended Stanford and Theegala attended Pepperdine) earned their first career victories this season. Along with those wins were a combined 11 top 10 finishes, with Theegala recording five top 5 finishes. Zhang also won her second NCAA individual title this year.
Charley Hull (WWGR: 8) and Justin Rose (OWGR: 37):
Hull, 27, and Rose, 43, each represented England on Europe’s victorious Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup teams this September. It was the sixth appearance on these teams for each of them. Both players were also on England’s Olympic team in 2016 and Rose won the gold medal that year. Combined, they have 143 top 10 finishes during their careers.
Megan Khang (WWGR: 14) and Denny McCarthy (OWGR: 29):
Khang, 25, earned her first career victory this year while McCarthy, 30, came up just short, falling in a playoff in May. Combined, they have 57 top 10 finishes in their careers, with seven of McCarthy’s 22 top 10 finishes coming this season, while five of Khang’s 35 top 10 finishes were recorded this season.
Lydia Ko (WWGR: 9) and Jason Day (OWGR: 21):
Each of these former World No. 1 players have the most individual career titles in the field. Ko, 26, from New Zealand, has won 19 times, including two majors and Day, 35, from Australia, has won 13 times, including one major. Day has had a nice comeback season with eight top 10 finishes, including a win.
Céline Boutier (WWGR: 5) and Harris English (OWGR: 39):
Boutier, 29, has won five times, including a major championship, on the LPGA Tour and English, 34, has won four times on the PGA TOUR. Boutier earned three of her career wins plus seven top 10 finishes this season and currently leads the race in the CME Globe standings. Harris has five top 10 finishes this season and knows the Tiburón layout well having won the QBE Shootout three times there
Andrea Lee (WWGR: 40) and Billy Horschel (OWGR: 52):
Lee, 25, and Horschel, 36, have a combined eight wins during their careers. Lee played in her first Solheim Cup this year and Horschel played in his first-ever professional team event last year at the Presidents Cup. Each player has recorded three top 10 finishes this season.
Mel Reid (WWGR: 164) and Russell Henley (OWGR: 26):
Reid, 36, and Henley, 34, have a combined five career victories on their respective tours. Reid has been a member of four European Solheim Cup teams in her career, the third most among LPGA Tour players in the field. Together, they have six top 10 finishes this year, one of those being a victory for Henley. Reid is also a Grant Thornton ambassador.
Cheyenne Knight (WWGR: 51) and Tom Hoge (OWGR: 55):
Together, these two have three career victories, with each player winning in the past two years. Knight, 26, won her second career title this season and was one of the 12 players in the field who played in the Solheim Cup. Hoge, 34, won his first tournament last year and followed that up with a win in Naples alongside Theegala last December. This team has nine top 10 finishes this season.
Madelene Sagström (WWGR: 52) and Ludvig Åberg (OWGR: 58):
This Swedish team has had an impressive year so far, as both were on the winning teams in the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup in September. While Sagström, 30, was making her third appearance for Team Europe, Åberg, 23, was a rookie having turned professional just three months prior. Sagström had a 1-1-1 record and Åberg was 2-2-0. Åberg won the Omega European Masters and lost in a playoff recently on the PGA TOUR for his second top 10 finish.
Allisen Corpuz (WWGR: 10) and Cameron Champ (OWGR: 242):
Corpuz, 30, and Champ, 28, have a combined four career victories. The first of Champ’s three wins on the PGA TOUR was in 2019, and Corpuz won for the first time this season at the U.S. Women’s Open. Corpuz was a member of the U.S. team this year for her first Solheim Cup and went 2-0-0 with Nelly Korda in foursomes. Champ is also a Grant Thornton ambassador.
Ruoning Yin (WWGR: 2) and Nick Taylor (OWGR: 48):
Yin, 21, from China, and Taylor, 35, from Canada, have a combined five career wins, with three of those coming this year. Yin won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major championship and Taylor won his country’s national championship at the Canadian Open, becoming the first Canadian in 69 years to do so.
Leona Maguire (WWGR: 17) and Lucas Glover (OWGR: 32):
Ireland’s Maguire, 28, has two career victories, including one this season. She also was on the victorious Solheim Cup team in September, making her second appearance for Europe. Glover, 43, experienced a resurgence late this summer with back-to-back wins on the PGA TOUR. He has six career wins, including a U.S. Open.
The Grant Thornton Invitational takes place from Friday, December 8, through Sunday, December 10, at Tiburón Golf Club at The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Florida.
The Golf Channel will broadcast Friday’s first round competition live from 1-4 p.m. ET. Saturday’s coverage will begin from 2-3 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, then switch to NBC from 3-5 p.m. ET. The final round coverage will air Sunday on Golf Channel from 1-2 p.m. ET and then switch to NBC from 2-4 p.m. ET.
Following Saturday’s round, Live Fest will once again be held on the Tiburón Driving Range from 5-10 p.m. ET. This year’s lineup includes Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town and Gin Blossoms.
For Grant Thornton Invitational tickets and additional information, visit the official tournament website: grantthorntoninvitational.com.
The inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational will be played in Naples, Florida on December 8-10, 2023, at Tiburón Golf Club and The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón. The invitational is a mixed-team Challenge Season event that will see 16 LPGA Tour and 16 PGA TOUR professionals compete together in a unique co-sanctioned tournament. The three-day tournament will be televised on NBC and Golf Channel and allows the 32-player field to compete for an equal prize and visibility — a format new to the current era of professional golf. The Grant Thornton Invitational supports a variety of worthy charities, including participants in Grant Thornton LLP’s Purple Paladins program, several historically black colleges and universities, CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, Warriors of Collier County and Golisano Children’s Hospital.
By showcasing golf’s greatest players, the PGA TOUR engages, inspires and positively impacts our fans, partners and communities worldwide.
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Lee Patterson
Grant Thornton Invitational, Media Director
704.553.4790
lee@grantthorntoninvitational.com
Adam Bond
Grant Thornton LLP
312.602.8332
Adam.Bond@us.gt.com
