It’s the final event of 2023 for Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson.
But this time, she’s going to play with someone alongside that you’ll probably recognize.
The Grant Thornton Invitational is a co-sanctioned event between the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, and Brooke’s partner will be none other than the top-ranked Canadian male golfer – Corey Conners!
The duo last played together in 2013 Copa De Las Americas, where Canada won the team title (Albin Choi and Augusta James were also part of the team) by one shot at Doral’s Blue Monster.
“I think it’s going to be really fun especially with all the Canadian fans down here. I think they’re going to love our pairing. It’s going to be really cool to be a part of. It’s an invitational, so I was excited when I got the invite. And when I found out I was playing with Corey – he’s an amazing ball-striker and a great player and I know I am a little bit, too,” Brooke, with a smile, told The Toronto Star after the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship.
The event will be contested at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, where the CME Group Tour Championship on the LPGA Tour is played. The event, a PGA Tour season-ending event otherwise known as the QBE Shootout from 2017-2022, was won by Tom Hoge and Sahith Theegala last year. They won by one shot over Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer.
The Grant Thornton Invitational was announced as a mixed event between the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour earlier this year and will be contested over three rounds with three separate formats of play.
Day 1 will be a scramble, Day 2 will be alternate shot, and Day 3 will be modified four-ball (Player A and Player B will both hit tee shots, but Player A will play Player B’s ball for their second shot – and vice versa – and the lowest score of the partners’ counts as the team score).
“It’s just going to be a great way to close out the year,” Brooke said.
Fellow Canadian Nick Taylor is also in the field and the 2023 RBC Canadian Open winner will be grouped with China’s Runoning Yin. Yin and Taylor share a short-game coach in Gareth Raflewski, and Yin’s current caddie was Taylor’s caddie for a few years. Yin won twice this season on the LPGA Tour, including the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and even reached No.1 in the world.
“I think this Grant Thornton Invitational is going to be amazing,” LPGA Tour commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said. “We’re all really looking forward to it. More opportunity to get exposure for our athletes, and people have been asking for this for a long time, and we’re really excited for the partnership with the PGA TOUR and Grant Thornton. You’re going to see the best women in the world competing in a forum that you’re not used to seeing.”
Whether you’re excited to see a Netflix star, major winners, sure-bet Hall of Famers, or a bright new light in the game, the Grant Thornton Invitational is set to be a fun event on the schedule.
And while we’ll certainly be cheering on ‘Team Canada’ here are the other teams in the field at Tiburon!
- Madelene Sagstrom/Ludvig Aberg
- Allisen Corpuz/Cameron Champ
- Lilia Vu/Joel Dahmen
- Lydia Ko/Jason Day
- Celine Boutier/Harris English
- Nelly Korda/Tony Finau
- Lexi Thompson/Rickie Fowler
- Leona Maguire/Lucas Glover
- Mel Reid/Russell Henley
- Cheyenne Knight/Tom Hoge
- Andrea Lee/Billy Horschel
- Megan Khang/Denny McCarthy
- Charley Hull/Justin Rose
- Rose Zhang/Sahith Theegala