After one round of the Grant Thornton Invitational, the teams of Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark and Charley Hull and Michael Brennan are in control.
Both teams, led by two of the biggest stars on the LPGA Tour, shot -17 55s in the first round scramble format. They lead by two strokes over Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak.
Hull and Brennan didn’t start off elite, with a par on the second hole, but really took control from there. Over the next 13 holes, this team made 11 birdies and two eagles before finally making another par on 16. The round could’ve been stronger as well, with the duo making par on two of the last three.
A long eagle putt by Brennan on 14 was the highlight of the day, but Hull was in a groove on the greens, hitting most of the birdie putts for the team. A scramble format should be a dream for a player who plays with Hull’s level of aggressiveness.
Clark and Thompson, one of just two teams where both players have won a major, certainly used their long games as an advantage. Perhaps most notably, when Wyndham Clark nearly drove the green on the 10th hole, setting Thompson up for an eagle opportunity with her putter, which she made. Both players carried relatively even weight on the way to their 55, with two eagles and 13 birdies.
Not far off are Nelly Korda and Denny McCarthy, who had a fantastic finish on 17 and 18 to get to a tie for fourth at -14, just three strokes back.
