19th Hole
PGA Tour, LPGA Tour partnering for new mixed-team competition

For the first time in 14 years, the PGA Tour and LPGA will join forces in a brand new mixed-team competition.
The Grant Thornton Invitational will run from December 4th to the 10th. at the Tiburón Golf Club and The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón, and be the first event of its type since the 1999 JCPenney Classic., won by Laura Davies and John Daly at the Innisbrook Resort.
16 PGA TOUR and 16 LPGA professionals will make up the total of 32 players competing for a $4 million purse, with additional format details in development. The event will be televised by NBC and the Golf Channel.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said, “As we look to capitalize on the growing interest in the game of golf, the addition of a mixed event to the calendar has been a priority, and we greatly appreciate title sponsor Grant Thornton for their support in delivering an event that will make our sport more appealing and welcoming to all.”
He continued, “We look forward to partnering with the LPGA as we deliver first-class entertainment and competition to our fans and the residents of Southwest Florida, who have embraced the PGA TOUR for the past 22 years.”
Working alongside Monahan and the sponsors, LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.was equally enthusiastic.
“We could not be more excited to add the Grant Thornton Invitational to our 2023 schedule,” she said, before continuing.
“By joining forces with the PGA TOUR to host a mixed event where the top male and female golfers in the world compete alongside each other, we’re going to deliver a memorable and entertaining experience for all golf fans, showcasing our players’ incredible skills in a new context to a new audience. This is an important step forward for golf, women’s golf and the LPGA. We’re incredibly grateful for the leadership of our partners at the PGA TOUR and Grant Thornton, and we look forward to producing a best-in-class event that inspires, elevates and advances opportunities for golfers around the globe.”
Grant Thornton LLP (Grant Thornton) is one of America’s largest audit, tax and advisory firms, and an Official Marketing Partner of the PGA TOUR.
The company currently sponsors a roster of golf ambassadors who are leading change both on and off the course that include Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda, Mel Reid, and Cameron Champ, whose Mack Champ Invitational tournament hosts the game’s best junior golfers The firm also operates an initiative to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities grow the game of golf and create new opportunities for student athletes. It currently supports golf programs at Alabama State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Prairie View A&M, Tennessee State and Texas Southern.
Their CEO Seth Siegel echoed the two tour leaders.
“At Grant Thornton, we believe golf can bring people together – to be their very best, to eliminate barriers to achievement and to help build inclusive communities. That’s why we are working with the PGA TOUR and the LPGA Tour to create a tournament where the world’s best golfers, both men and women, can compete head-to-head on a level playing field. We know that players and fans alike will enjoy this singular event and what it represents for sports and society.”
Current world number 12, Tony Finau, is very much looking forward to the December tournament, commenting:
“PGA TOUR athletes playing alongside the best athletes from the LPGA Tour is going to be incredible for our fans,” said the five-time PGA Tour winner. “They’ve been wanting something like this for a long time. Our fans deserve it, and seeing Grant Thornton stepping up to help the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour put together this tournament, I think is very special.”
I’ll be teaming up with @NellyKorda at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational in December to take on top players from across the PGA TOUR and LPGA! Proud to join @GrantThorntonUS! https://t.co/UBfLu358we pic.twitter.com/snlCP2sj31
— Tony Finau Golf (@tonyfinaugolf) February 22, 2023
The celebration of golf will support a variety of worthy charities, including CureSearch for Children’s Cancer, while QBE Insurance, Franklin Templeton Investments and The Naples Convention & Visitors Bureau have committed to support the Southwest Florida tournament in a meaningful way.
Nelly Korda, winner of five tournaments in 2021, including the Olympic Games gold medal, said:
“The Grant Thornton Invitational really is about being inclusive and showing people that golf can be accessible for everyone, no matter what way you play. This is going to be the perfect opportunity for me to do something important in helping to grow the game and inspire the next generation.”
Alongside Nelly, her elder sister Jessica will partner Rickie Fowler in a partnership sure to attract viewing figures at the end of an already tempting season.
Proud to be a part of the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational this December! Can’t wait to partner up with @RickieFowler to take on the best from the PGA TOUR and LPGA in this exciting, new co-sanctioned event. See you in Naples!
Learn more at https://t.co/Nt1bJDbH2j pic.twitter.com/jkcgCmD6xp
— Jessica Korda (@Thejessicakorda) February 22, 2023
For more information, visit GrantThorntonInvitational.com.
19th Hole
‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.
However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.
Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.
Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”
Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish
— Jenny Shin (@JennyShin_LPGA) August 3, 2025
Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.
Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.
19th Hole
How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.
Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.
Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.
Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.
Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.
“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course. Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”
According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.
“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”
Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.
19th Hole
Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.
Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.
The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.
Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”
“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”
Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.
However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.
“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”
Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.
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