The First Look: Grant Thornton Invitational
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Jake Knapp makes par to win at Grant Thornton
Written by Adam Stanley
The unique, three-round competition returns to Tiburón Golf Club as The Grant Thornton Invitational is back for its third iteration.
The LPGA and PGA TOUR joined forces in 2023, and the event features 16 teams of global stars from both the men’s and women’s game.
Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp return to defend, while the 2023 winners, Lydia Ko and Jason Day, are also in the field.
Here’s everything else you need to know.
| Team | Notes |
| Patty Tavatanakit-Jake Knapp | The defending champions return… Tavatanakit had three top-10s in 2025, including a T7 at the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon… Knapp returns for the first time since the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He had three top-five results this season |
| Lydia Ko-Jason Day | The 2023 winners are back, looking to recreate some more magic… Ko, who had a Hall of Fame season in 2024, won again in 2025 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and had four other top-10s… Day made it to the BMW Championship in the FedExCup Playoffs on the back of two top-three finishes this season. |
| Brooke Henderson-Corey Conners | The Canadian duo looks to build off their 2-4 record at this event, the last two seasons… Henderson returned to the winner’s circle in 2025, capturing her national open in August just outside Toronto… Conners had seven top-10s in 2025, six of which came at either majors or Signature Events |
| Nelly Korda-Denny McCarthy | Nelly Korda finished 2025 with an incredible nine top-10s in 19 starts, a follow-up to her Player of the Year campaign in 2024… McCarthy, playing the Grant Thornton Invitational for the second time, had two top-10s on TOUR this season. |
| Jessica Korda-Bud Cauley | Making their tournament debut, Jessica Korda is a six-time winner on the LPGA and returning to action for the first time since becoming a mom in February 2024… Cauley had an impressive resurgence in 2025, earning his way into the FedExCup Playoffs and rising to No. 66 in the OWGR |
| Charley Hull-Daniel Berger | Hull and Berger are both teeing it up at the Grant Thornton Invitational for the second time… Hull returned to the LPGA winner’s circle this season after a multi-year winless drought… Berger had two top-three finishes in 2025, including a runner-up at the WM Phoenix Open |
| Lottie Woad-Luke Clanton | The pair of 21-year-olds will become the youngest team in the competition… Woad, formerly the game’s No. 1-ranked amateur, won in her first professional start on the LPGA this summer… Clanton, himself the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, earned TOUR status via PGA TOUR University Accelerated program and turned pro this summer. |
| Lexi Thompson-Wyndham Clark | This pair of major winners will team up for the first time… It is Clark’s debut at the tournament. He finished T8 last week at the Hero World Challenge… Thompson had two top-five finishes this season, including a runner-up at the DOW Championship, the LPGA's lone team event. |
| Andrea Lee-Billy Horschel | This is the second time Lee and Horschel are paired together… Horschel had two top-10s this season before sitting out for six months due to injury. He’s since notched two top-15s in two of his three starts coming back… Lee had an impressive six top-10s this season. |
| Jennifer Kupcho-Chris Gotterup | Kupcho returns for the second time after finishing third alongside Akshay Bhatia last year. She won the ShopRite LPGA Classic in 2025… Gotterup won for the second time on TOUR this summer, capturing the Genesis Scottish Open in July. |
| Rose Zhang-Michael Kim | Zhang returns for her second start at the event, having won twice on the LPGA… Kim is making his tournament debut. He won for the first time on the PGA TOUR in 2018 and returned to the winner’s circle on the DP World Tour in September in France. |
| Lilia Vu-Tony Finau | This marks Finau’s return to the event after suffering an injury in 2024 and needing surgery on his knee. This is a new pairing for 2025… Vu is a five-time LPGA winner, while Finau has won six times on the PGA TOUR |
| Lauren Coughlin-Andrew Novak | Another new pairing. This is Coughlin’s second start at the event and she notched five top-10s this season after a breakout year in 2024… Novak won for the first time on the PGA TOUR this summer alongside partner Ben Griffin. |
| Maja Stark-Neal Shipley | Stark has two career LPGA victories, including this summer at the U.S. Women’s Open, when she captured her first major title… Shipley won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour this summer en route to earning PGA TOUR status. |
| Angel Yin-Tom Hoge | Angel Yin won the Honda LPGA Thailand earlier in 2025 for her second career LPGA title… Hoge had four top-10s this season, including a T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship… This is a new team for 2025. |
| Megan Khang-Keith Mitchell | Khang will tee it up for the third time, with a third different partner. She finished runner-up – alongside Lexi Thompson – at the LPGA’s lone team event this summer… Mitchell is making his tournament debut after three top-10s in 2025 on TOUR |
FORMAT: The 16 mixed teams will play three distinct formats, including Scramble, Foursomes and Modified Four-Ball, each played in consecutive rounds. Round one will be the Scramble and round two will be Foursomes (alternate shot). Round three will once again feature a “Modified Four-Ball” format. Both players will tee off and then they will switch balls for their second shots and play that shot until holed. The lower score of the partners counted as the team score.
COURSE: Tiburón Golf Club. Men: par 72, 7,382 yards. Women: par 72, 6,788 yards. The event has been played in Naples, Florida, since 2023. The layout is also the host of the LPGA's season finale, the CME Group Tour Championship.
72-HOLE RECORD: 189, Jake Knapp/Patty Tavatanakit (2024)
18-HOLE RECORD: 56, Tony Finau/Nelly Korda (First round, 2023)
LAST TIME: The duo of Knapp and Tavatanakit opened with a sizzling 58 in the opening round and managed to hold on tight over the remaining 36 holes to win by one in their shared tournament debut. The pair had a two-shot lead over Jeeno Thitikul and Tom Kim into Sunday and opened with an eagle on the par-5 first hole on the final day to extend their advantage. They managed to fend off the hard-charging Canadian pair of Corey Conners and Brooke Henderson, whose 62 was tied for Sunday’s best round with Megan Khang and Matt Kuchar, while Thitikul and Kim ended up one shot back of Knapp and Tavatanakit. Akshay Bhatia and Jennifer Kupcho finished third, another shot further back.
How to follow (all times ET)
Television:
- Friday: 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Saturday: 2-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-5 p.m. (NBC)
- Sunday: 1-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2-4 p.m. (NBC)
