First look: Grant Thornton Invitational
News

First look: Grant Thornton Invitational

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

LPGA PGA TOUR NOTES Lydia Ko Jason Day Last year’s champions…Ko earned his way into the LPGA Hall of Fame this year after three victories (including a major) and a gold medal at the Paris Olympics…Day was a member of the Presidents Cup International team and finished in four top-10s -Placements this year on TOUR Brooke Henderson Corey Conners Henderson, the winningest Canadian ever on the LPGA or PGA TOUR, had nine top-10 finishes this year, including a T3 in her season-opening title defense… Conners had four top-10 finishes, played in the Olympics and will the Ending the season as Canada’s top-ranked male golfer. Nelly Korda Daniel Berger (replaces Tony Finau) Korda had the most incredible campaign of all, winning seven times – including a major. She won the Rolex Player of the Year award on the LPGA and will finish the year ranked No. 1 in the world. Lexi Thompson Rickie Fowler This year was Thompson’s final year as a full-time player on the LPGA. She had four top-10 finishes in 2024, including a T2 at the Meijer LPGA Classic, and was part of the victorious American Solheim Cup team…Fowler’s best finish came at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, where he finished fourth. Jennifer Kupcho Akshay Bhatia Kupcho posted an impressive six top-10 finishes in 2024, highlighted by a second-place finish in the LPGA’s team event, the Dow Championship… Bhatia earned his second career TOUR victory at the Valero Texas Open in April, winning in a playoff. Celine Boutier Matthieu Pavon The French duo were both Olympians in their home country this year… Both Boutier and Pavon achieved four top-10 finishes on their respective Tours this season, with Pavon claiming his first TOUR title at the Farmers Insurance Open. Mel Reid Cameron Champ This is the first couple for Champ and Reid. Reid played with Russell Henley last year and finished 13th, while Champ finished 14th with Allisen Corpuz… The duo have combined for four career victories on their respective tours. Andrea Lee Max Greyserman Lee recorded five top-10 finishes this year, including a T3 at the US Women’s Open…Greyserman had an incredible second half of his 2024 TOUR season, finishing in the top five in four of his last six events – including three runner-up finishes. Jeeno Thitikul Tom Kim Thitikul had two wins and an incredible 12 top-10 finishes in just 17 starts on the LPGA this season – including a victory in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship (also held at Tiburón)… Kim, part of the International Presidents Cup team , had two top 10 finishes on TOUR this season. Patty Tavatanakit Jake Knapp It should be a long bomber duo. Knapp ranks 24th in driving distance on TOUR, while Tavatanakit sits 23rd on the LPGA… Tavatanakit enjoyed a career resurgence this year, reaching the winner’s circle for the first time in three years… Knapp recorded his first TOUR victory At the beginning of 2024 at the Mexico Open Vidanta. Megan Khang Matt Kuchar Khang was part of the American Solheim Cup team and earned it thanks to five top-10 finishes this year… Kuchar has won three times in previous team competitions in Tiburón. Lilia Vu Luke List Vu returned with a vengeance after a back injury sidelined her for nearly three months in early 2024, winning in her first start of the season. The next week she also finished T2 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Vu had four top-10 finishes this year…List’s best finish of the season came at the Genesis Invitational, where he finished T2 in the Signature Event. Maya Stark JT Poston Maja Stark’s 2024 season was highlighted by back-to-back runner-up finishes in April, including at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the year on the LPGA… Poston had a great finish to his PGA TOUR season, winning the Shriners Children’s Open for his third TOUR Career title and subsequent T5 finish at the RSM Classic. He had six top-10 finishes this year. Allisen Corpuz Sahith Theegala Corpuz was a model of consistency this year as he missed only four cuts, had three top-10 finishes and was part of the victorious American Solheim Cup team… Theegala finished third in this year with nine top-10 finishes the FedExCup standings. He comes to Grant Thornton after finishing eighth in the Hero World Challenge. Corpuz and Theegala are long-time friends. Lauren Coughlin Cameron Young Coughlin had a career year on the LPGA, where he won twice in three tournaments and finished the year with eight top-10 finishes. She also played on her first Solheim Cup team. It’s been a very special week for Coughlin, who grew up just 90 minutes from the Solheim Cup site in Virginia… Young has had just one missed cut all year – and six top-10 finishes – and comes into the tournament fresh off 13th Grant Thornton Hero World Challenge Gabriela Rüffels Nick Dunlap Ruffels had a very solid rookie season in the LPGA, highlighted by two third-place finishes to start 2024 at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship and the Founders Cup… Dunlap had a spectacular 2024. He won The American Express as an amateur and then again, now as a professional, he won the Barracuda Championship and made it to the second-to-last FedExCup Playoffs event.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *