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Nelly Korda and Tony Finau were among the top stars to participate in the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational. This is the co-sanctioned (though unofficial) mixed team event co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
The event debuted in December 2023 and already Nelly Korda and Tony Finau have confirmed that they will be present as a team in the 2024 edition. Both Korda and Finau are ambassadors of the event.
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On their return to this tournament, Nelly Korda had this to say (via Golfweek):
"The Grant Thornton Invitational is truly one of one, and getting to drive the game forward alongside such a great player and person in Tony Finau is something I’m really looking forward to doing again this year in Naples."
Two other teams have already confirmed that they will repeat their presence at the Grant Thornton Invitational. They are defending champions Lydia Ko and Jason Day, and Lexi Thompson and Rickie Fowler.
The Grant Thornton Invitational will be played at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, December 13-15. During the previous season, the event grouped 15 teams, all comprised of one LPGA Tour star and one PGA Tour star.
Among the teams present in the first edition of the event were Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners, Rose Zhang and Sahith Theegala, Charley Hull and Justin Rose and Lilia Vu and Joel Dahmen.
A look at Nelly Korda and Tony Finau's performance at the Grant Thornton Invitational 2024
Nelly Korda and Tony Finau finished the Grant Thornton Invitational tied for fourth place with Megan Khang and Denny McCarthy. Their final score was 23 under, three strokes behind champions Ko and Day.
Korda and Finau played the first round (Scramble format), with an eagle and 14 birdies, for a score of 16 under 56. This performance took them temporarily to the first place of the leaderboard.
The second round (Foursomes) was not so fortunate for them, as they only managed four birdies and two bogeys. The round's score (70) pushed them back in the leaderboard going into the final round.
Sunday was played in the Modified Four-ball format. Korda and Finau carded five birdies with no bogeys, making up some of the ground they had lost the previous day. Nevertheless, they were three strokes behind the leaders.
Kiwi Lydia Ko and Aussie Jason Day won the event with a score of 26 under. Canadians Henderson and Conners were second one stroke behind, while Swedes Ludvig Aberg and Madelene Sagstrom finished third (24 under).
The Grant Thornton Invitational is the first co-ed event to be played between the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour since the JC Penny Classic, which was played from 1960 to 1999. Mixed tournaments are much more common in the junior, collegiate and amateur categories.
