Grant Thornton Invitational 2025 preview, picks & analysis

The Grant Thornton Invitational brings together 16 PGA Tour and 16 LPGA Tour players competing in teams of two at Tiburon Golf Club for an opportunity to boost their Christmas funds.

This year’s field has a combined 137 LPGA Tour and PGA Tour career victories with nine of those coming in 2025. There are 10 major champions in the field including this year’s U.S. Women’s Open Champion Maja Stark. A total of seven different countries will be represented in Naples.

Rob Hartman, Grant Thornton Invitational Tournament Director, said: "We are thrilled with the 16 dynamic teams we’ve been able to put together for this year. The interest from both tours continues to be high, and we are incredibly pleased with the collection of world-class players heading to Tiburon Golf Club. These mixed teams are comprised of current-year winners from both tours, many of the game’s rising stars and established veterans and major champions."

There is $4m up for grabs and the teams will play Scramble, Foursomes and a Modified Four-Ball format over three rounds.

The defending champions are Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit. Tavatanakit, 26, from Thailand, has two wins on the LPGA Tour and was the 2021 Rookie of the Year on the LPGA Tour. Knapp, 31, has one career PGA Tour title to his credit. 

The other 15 teams are as follows:

Lydia Ko & Jason Day 

As the inaugural champions of the Grant Thornton Invitational, these former World No. 1 players have the most individual career titles in the field. Ko, 28, an LPGA Hall of Fame member from New Zealand, has 23 victories along with winning the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Day, 37, from Australia, has won 13 times, including a major: the 2015 PGA Championship. 

Lilia Vu & Tony Finau 

Vu, 28, is a five-time winner on the LPGA Tour, with four victories in 2023, including two major championships. Finau, 36, has six career victories. This is a new team and Finau’s return to the tournament since 2023, when he finished T4 with Nelly Korda. Vu and Finau are also Grant Thornton ambassadors. 

Nelly Korda & Denny McCarthy 

Korda, 26, has accumulated 15 career victories, including two major titles. She was named the 2024 Rolex Player of the Year following a seven-win season. This is her third consecutive appearance in the tournament, with her best result being a T4 in 2023, when she was paired with Tony Finau. McCarthy, 32, is making his second appearance since 2023, when he finished T4 with Megan Khang.

Jessica Korda & Bud Cauley 

Both are newcomers to the competition. Korda, 32, has won six times on the LPGA Tour, with her latest victory being in 2021. Cauley, 35, who has suffered multiple injuries since 2018, had a strong resurgence in 2025, qualifying him for the PGA Tour playoffs and rising to No. 66 in the world.

Brooke Henderson & Corey Conners 

The Canadian team is the highest ranked pairing in the field. This will be the third consecutive year they have been paired together, finishing 2nd in 2023 and T4 last year. Henderson, 28, has won 14 times on the LPGA Tour, including a special victory this year at the CPKC Women’s Canadian Open. Conners, 33, has two career victories on the PGA Tour, both at the Valero Texas Open. He was T8 at the Masters Tournament and T10 at The Open Championship this year.

Andrea Lee & Billy Horschel 

This will be the second time these two are paired together. In 2023, they finished T14. Combined, they have nine victories on their respective tours. Lee, 27, has one victory, and Horschel, 38, has eight PGA Tour wins, including a FedEx Cup trophy.

Charley Hull & Daniel Berger 

England’s Hull will be returning for her second appearance in the tournament since finishing T9 with fellow countryman Justin Rose in 2023. Berger is also making his second start, finishing 13th with Nelly Korda last year. Hull, 29, has won three times during her career, including a win in September at the Kroger Queen City Championship. Berger, 32, is a four-time winner on the PGA Tour.

Lottie Woad & Luke Clanton 

This is a new team to the competition. As the youngest team in the field, Woad, 21, and Clanton, 21, were college teammates at Florida State University. Woad, from England, won the 2022 Girls Amateur Championship, 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and reached No.1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in June 2024. Earlier this year, she won her first professional start on the LPGA Tour at the Women’s Scottish Open. Clanton, 21, rose to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in August 2024.

Lexi Thompson & Wyndham Clark

This duo of major championship winners will be paired for the first time. Thompson, 30, has played the last two years with Rickie Fowler, while Clark, 31, is joining the tournament for the first time. Thompson has 11 career victories. Clark has won three times on the PGA Tour, all in 2023 - including the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

Jennifer Kupcho & Chris Gotterup 

Kupcho returns for the second year, finishing third last year with Akshay Bhatia. Gotterup is a rookie in the field. Kupcho, 28, won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019 and has since recorded four career LPGA Tour victories, including this year’s ShopRite LPGA Classic. Gotterup, 26, was the college player of the year in 2022 and has two PGA Tour wins, including the Scottish Open in July.

Rose Zhang & Michael Kim 

Zhang, 22, returns for her second start in the tournament. She finished T9 with Sahith Theegala in 2023. Zhang has won twice on the LPGA Tour. Her first win in 2023 made her the first player to win in her professional debut on the LPGA Tour since 1951. Kim, 32, holds one PGA Tour victory from 2018. In 2013, while at the University of California, Berkeley, he was named the college national player of the year. This is his first appearance in the tournament.

Lauren Coughlin & Andrew Novak

Coughlin is making her second consecutive start in the tournament. She finished T7 with Cam Young last year. This is the first start for Novak. Coughlin, 33, has two LPGA Tour wins, both in 2024. Novak, 30, captured his first PGA Tour victory this year in New Orleans at a team event with partner, Ben Griffin.

Maja Stark & Neal Shipley 

Stark is making her second consecutive appearance in the competition. The Swedish star was T9 last year with J.T. Poston. Shipley is another rookie in the field and new to competition this year. Stark, 25, has two career victories, including this year’s US Women’s Open. Shipley, 24, has won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour this season, earning his PGA Tour card for the 2026 season.

Angel Yin & Tom Hoge 

This is a new team competing in the Grant Thornton Invitational. Yin, 27, has won twice on the LPGA Tour, including the Honda LPGA Thailand earlier this season. Hoge, 36, won the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for his lone PGA Tour victory so far. 

Megan Khang & Keith Mitchell 

Khang is returning to the tournament for the third time with a different partner. She was T9 with Matt Kuchar last year and T4 with Denny McCarthy in 2023. Mitchell is competing in the tournament for the first time. Khang, 28, has one career victory, and Mitchell, 33, has one PGA Tour win.

Tournament Winners:

It was won in 2023 by Jason Day and Lydia Ko and last year by Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit.

Form Guide:

I believe that a fearless Lottie Woad and Luke Clanton, two of the brightest prospects in the game, are going to romp to victory.

How to Watch:

Friday, December 12, Sky Sports Golf, 6pm, Saturday, December 13, 7pm; Sunday, December 14, Sky Sports Golf 6pm.

Prize Money:

Total prize money is $4m.

To Win:

Lottie Woad and Luke Clanton. Could win by a street

Each Way:

Lydia Ko and Jason Day. Been there, done that

Each Way:

Charley Hull and Daniel Berger. Could shoot a LOT of birdies