Grant Thornton Invitational Preview

Grant Thornton Invitational:

A $50,000 first place prize is enough to get a few people to play, even me, even if it is just a 16-team mixed event. It is one less week that we must be without action until the TOC returns after the 1^st of the year. Throw a line or two and see what happens, you never know. Shall we kick the tires a little and see what we can do?

For the unaware, this event under its former incarnation was known as the QBE Shootout. Originally this event began in 1989, was renamed a few times, bounced around a couple of venues, and settled into Tiburon Golf Course in Naples on the Gold Course designed by Greg Norman in 2001.

The course is also the host of the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. This year’s event was won by Amy Yang who fired a tournament course record -27 under par.

The reimagined format this year involves 16 teams compromised of one member from the PGA and LPGA Tours. It is a 54-hole event with 3 distinct and separate rounds. The first round consists of a scramble and is straight forward. The second round is an alternate shot (Foursomes) format. The final round on Sunday is new and unique to the event. In the “Modified Four-Ball” for Sunday, both players will tee off, and then they will switch balls for their second shot and play that ball until holed. Certainly, I think Sunday will be worth watching just to see how it all plays out and what kind of effect the switch may or may not have.

The men will play from 7,382 yards from the tees while the LPGA members will play from 6,595 yards.

Water comes into play on 13 holes across the course. Unique to the course and Florida surroundings the course features coquina shell waste areas instead of conventional rough. The course features 50 bunkers across the 18 holes that have been reconstructed and reconditioned within the past years to now feature sod bunker walls. The Bermuda Greens are large, tiered and undulating of average speed. Shorter hitters off the tee should find the course more to their liking as accuracy, creativity, and an above average short game should be helpful.

 

Teams I Like & Also the Single Bullet I’m Pondering… (LPGA driven):

Madelene Sagstrom w/ Aberg – ($10,500):  Aberg’s caddie is engaged to Sagstrom. Played in this year’s Solheim Cup as a Captain’s Pick. Finished the regular season 55^th in the Race to the CME Globe. In 22 starts this season, she finished T25 or better in 9 of them. Finished this year’s regular season ranked 9/DD, 22/GIR, and 41/Scoring Average. The putter might be the weakest part of her game but has 3 years on tour so far where she has finished inside the Top 25 in putting average, this past year wasn’t one of them. Finished T16 at this year’s Group Tour Championship.

Charley Hull w/ Rose – ($9,700):  An all-English pairing. Hull finished the regular season 11^th in the Race to the CME Globe. In 18 starts this season she finished T25 or better 11 times, with 4 of those 11 finishes resulting in runner-up finishes. Finished this year’s regular season ranked 30/DD, 61/GIR, 15/Putting Average, 15/Scoring Average, and 6/Money List. Her game seems to complement Rose’s well and I think they should be strong contenders here, especially after Hull’s T16 finish at the Group Tour Championship.

Celine Boutier w/ English – ($8,700):  English won the prior event 3 times and finished runner-up twice. In 22 starts this past season, Boutier won 4 times, including a major (Amundi Evian Championship), and has 11 additional T25 or better finishes. She finished the regular season 2^nd in the Race to the CME Globe. She finished T16 at the Group Tour Championship. Additionally, she finished this year’s regular season ranked 106/DD, 33/DA, 14/GIR, 11/Scoring Average, and 39/Putting Average.

Ruoning Yin w/ N. Taylor – ($7,700):  Yin’s current caddie used to work for Nick Taylor. Yin and Taylor both have the same short-game coach. In her second year on tour, Yin reached #1 won the world, won twice, including a major (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship), and finished inside the T25 in 11 additional times, all in just 21 starts. Perhaps equally impressive was a run of 4 3^rd place finishes in a stretch of 5 starts within the summer. She finished the regular season 3^rd in the Race to the CME Globe. She finished T6 at the Group Tour Championship. Additionally, she finished this year’s regular season ranked 31/DD, 18/GIR, 34/Putting Average, and 6/Scoring Average.

Cheyenne Knight w/ Tom Hoge – ($6.800):  Hoge comes in as the unofficial defending champion having won last year’s QBE Shootout with Theegala at -34. Knight won the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (the LPGA’s annual team event) earlier this year in July. In 23 starts this season, Knight won once and finished inside the T25 or better 11 additional times. She finished the regular season 25^th in the Race to the CME Globe. She finished T27 at the Group Tour Championship. She finished this year’s regular season ranked 139/DD, 14/DA, 65/GIR, 36/Putting Average, and 36/Scoring Average.

Mel Reid w/ Russell Henley – ($6,500):  Mel and her wife just had their baby 3 weeks ago, so if you believe in the mojo from new kids/new parents. Mel should be on your radar. She played in just 18 events this year and finished inside the T25 or better in 6 of them. However, her best start of the year was just 3 starts back. She finished the regular season 85^th in the Race to the CME Glove. Finished T59 in 2020 at the Group Tour Championship in her only appearance to date. She finished this year’s regular season ranked 10/DD, 69/GIR, and 81/Scoring Average.

 

That is, it from here. Go win some holiday spending money! Keep in touch and let me know how you do! Here’s hoping to see some of you on the leaderboards.

 

–Nik (@MrGuruNick)