Grant Thornton Invitational week is here, the event that pairs up the LPGA and PGA stars for a three-day event in Naples, Florida. This also signals the true end to the LPGA Tour season. Here are the most likely teams to win The Grant Thornton Invitational.
No. 5 – Gabi Ruffels and Nick Dunlap – This is a fun team of two likely future stars on their respective tours. Dunlap hasn’t even been a pro 12 months and he already has two PGA Tour titles, including one as an amateur. He pairs up with Gabi Ruffels, who got off to a hot start this season that kept her in the Rookie of the Year race well into the season.
No. 4 – Nelly Korda and Daniel Berger – Daniel Berger has been thrown into the fire as a late addition to this event, stepping into the shoes of Tony Finau, but there are worse situations for the four-time PGA Tour winner to be thrown into. Playing with the dominant, undisputed No. 1 player in the Rolex Rankings, Nelly Korda. While the quick change took this team down a couple pegs, it is still unwise to ever bet against Korda.
No. 3 – Allisen Corpuz and Sahith Theegala – This was another late-change team with Corpuz taking over for Rose Zhang, but it has a very fun story attached. The two first met at the 2004 Junior World Tournament, where they each won first place for the 6-and-under division, and have been friends ever since. They should have obvious strong chemistry, but on the course they can each back it up. Corpuz is a major champion (where Theegala’s dad was there watching and helped shower her with Champagne) and Theegala is the highest ranked men’s player in the field.
No. 2 – Lydia Ko and Jason Day – It is hard to bet against the defending champions, especially when Lydia Ko is playing much better than she was this time in 2023. Between the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship and this event in 2023, Ko has won on this course two years in a row, it is clearly a track she loves. This is also by far the most accomplished group in the tournament, with four combined majors and 35 combined PGA/LPGA Tour wins between them.
No. 1 – Jeeno Thitikul and Tom Kim – Jeeno Thitikul won $4 million on this very course just a couple weeks ago, now she returns alongside the second highest ranked PGA Tour player in the field. While Kim hasn’t exactly been the strongest as of late, he is coming off a runner-up finish against a very strong field at the Hero World Challenge. This team has two of the most talented in the field, both working off recent momentum. I think it is a very strong bet these two are in contention on Sunday.
