Grant Thornton Invitational 2024 Preview, Picks & Analysis

This is a strange time for professional golf. It is the fag-end of the year and while many of the world’s top players are at home with their feet up, there is still barrowloads of cash up for grabs in what are some pretty meaningless events, the latest of which is the Grant Thornton Invitational, which takes places this week in Naples, Florida.

It is a mixed team event, with Jason Day and Lydia Ko defending the title they won 12 months ago. And with $1m on offer for the winning tam I guess it is no surprise that several players have decided to put their Christmas preparations on hold for the week.

The tournament feature 16 mixed teams where an LPGA Tour player teams up with a PGA Tour golfer. It is contested over three rounds and consists of 18 holes of scramble, 18 holes of foursomes (alternate shot) and 18 holes of modified four-ball. Day and Ko beat Canadians Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners by a stroke last year with a score of 26 under par.

It will unfold like this:

• Friday, Opening Round - Scramble Format

Each player hits a tee shot and then the team selects the ball to be used for the next stroke. From there, both players hit their next shots from that spot. This process continues until the ball is holed. 

According to Nelly Korda, who will be partnering Tony Finau: "Scramble on Friday is going to be full of scoring opportunities and I can’t wait to strategize with Tony on every shot."

• Saturday, Second Round - Foursome (Alternate Shot) Format

This is the most traditional of the three days, adhering to a format that is consistently featured in both the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup. Each team’s players alternate hitting shots with the same ball until the ball is holed. One player will tee off on the odd-numbered holes, and the other tees off on the even-numbered holes. 

Finau, who is recovering from knee surgery but still aims to play, said: "Alternate shot is a grind and probably the most challenging team format in golf. Nelly and I are going to need to bring our best on Saturday."

• Sunday, Final Round - Modified Four-Ball Format

This final round will feature a format new to team play and a twist on traditional Four-Ball. In the modified format, both players tee off, and then they switch balls for their second shots and play that same ball until it is holed. The lower score of the partners is then counted as the team score for the hole. 

Rickie Fowler, who teams up with Lexi Thompson, sees the format as both challenging and unique: "Playing our partner’s tee shots is going to be the ultimate test of teamwork and I’m really excited to play this format."

The Teams:

Lydia Ko & Jason Day 

Nelly Korda & Tony Finau 

Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler 

Brooke Henderson & Corey Conners

Lilia Vu & Luke List

Rose Zhang & Sahith Theegala

Jeeno Thitikul & Tom Kim

Patty Tavatanakit & Jake Knapp

Megan Khang & Matt Kuchar

Celine Boutier & Matthieu Pavon

Andrea Lee & Billy Horschel 

Jennifer Kupcho & Akshay Bhatia

Gabriela Ruffels & Nick Dunlap

Lauren Coughlin & Cameron Young 

Mel Reid & Cameron Champ

Maja Stark & J.T. Poston

Who is going to win? Korda and Finau will surely take some beating if Finau is fit and are likely to face a proper challenge from Ko and Day, Zhang and Theegala and French pair Boutier and Pavon.

However, much interest will centre around Thompson and Fowler. Thompson has completed her final full season on the LPGA Tour and was denied the opportunity of ending her career in front of an adoring crowd on the 18th hole because of a two-tee start at the season-ending CME Tour Championship due to the demands of the TV schedulers meant she had to start at the 10th hole. 

You also have to ask how on earth the field for this event is put together. You will note that Reid and Champ are ranked 365th and 373rd in the world respectively and, on the face of it, have no place in a elite field such as this. On the other side of the coin, Champ is a huge hitter of the ball and is always going to attract big crowds.

Personally, I would like to see each and every player announcing that they are donating their prize money to charity, but that seems highly unlikely.

Speaking of donating money to charity, Tiger Woods had plenty to say about the subject of appearance money for American Ryder Cup players last week. It has been revealed that the 12 members of Keegan Bradley’s team are expected to be paid $400,000 for the privilege of representing their country. 

Woods was a member of the 1999 US team which started the entire debate about appearance money. David Duval made it abundantly clear that he was unhappy that he and his fellow players were not being financially rewarded. It is a subject that has refused to go away. To a man, Europe’s players have consistently rejected the prospect of being paid to play in the Ryder Cup, with several saying they would actually pay to play for Europe.

Woods believes that there is nothing wrong with giving each player $5m to represent the USA as long as they donate that money to charity. 

He said: "We had the same conversation back in 1999. We didn't want to get paid. We wanted to give more money to charity, [but] the media turned it round against us and said we wanted to get paid.

"The Ryder Cup makes so much money, why can't we allocate it to various charities? I hope they [USA's players] get f$5m each and donate it all to different charities. I think that's great. What's wrong with that? It's so hard to get on to that team - there are only 12 guys. What's wrong with being able to allocate more funds?"

Next year’s Ryder Cup is going to generate record-breaking profits, but surely an event that generates so much interest in our sport should be pouring most of those profits back into the game at grass-roots level.

How to Watch:

Friday, December 13, Sky Sports Golf, 6pm; Saturday, December 14, Sky Sports Golf, 7pm; Sunday, December 15, Sky Sports Golf, 6pm.

Prize Money:

The total prize fund is $4m, with $1m going to the winning pair.

To Win:

Nelly Korda and Tony Finau, but does anybody out there really care?