Which Grant Thornton Invitational team has best combined ranking of PGA Tour and LPGA players?

December 5, 2023

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This is going to be fun.

The inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational is Friday through Sunday this week at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, with 32 golfers – 16 from the LPGA and 16 from the PGA Tour – playing in two-person teams and competing for a $4 million purse.

The field features nine PGA Tour players and 12 LPGA players ranked in the top 50 in the latest men’s and women’s Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings.

The highest-ranked PGA Tour golfers are Ludvig Aberg at No. 7, Rickie Fowler at No. 8 and Tony Finau at No. 16.

Meanwhile, four of the top 10 LPGA players will be there: No. 3 Ruoning Yin, No. 8 Nelly Korda, No. 9 Megan Khang and No. 10 Celine Boutier.

Who has the best combined ranking?

Here’s a look at the highest-ranked combos for the mixed-team event:

Nelly Korda (8) and Tony Finau (16) = 24

Megan Khang (9) and Denny McCarthy (29) = 38

Brooke Henderson (22) and Corey Conners (22) = 44

Rose Zhang (19) and Sahith Theegala (39) = 58

Madelene Sagstrom (57) and Ludvig Aberg (7) = 64

Charley Hull (23) and Justin Rose (42) = 65

Lydia Ko (45) and Jason Day (27) = 72

Lexi Thompson (67) and Rickie Fowler (8) = 75

Celine Boutier (10) and Harris English (75) = 85

Mel Reid (75) and Russell Henley (14) = 89

Ruoning Yin (3) and Nick Taylor (94) = 97

Leona Maguire (16) and Lucas Glover (119) = 135

Cheyenne Knight (33) and Tom Hoge (115) = 148

Andrea Lee (72) and Billy Horschel (139) = 211

Allisen Corpuz (30) and Cameron Champ (266) = 296

Lilia Vu (11) and Joel Dahmen (304) = 315

Stacked resumes

There will be a combined 141 career victories – with 25 of those wins occurring this year – converging at Tiburon. There are 11 major champions in the field, including all five major winners from the 2023 LPGA season.

There are three 2023 Ryder Cuppers (Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg from Europe; Rickie Fowler from the U.S.).

There are 12 members of the 2023 Solheim Cup teams (Madelene Sagstrom, Celine Boutier, Leona Maguire and Charley Hull from Team Europe; Lilia Vu, Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda, Allisen Corpuz, Andrea Lee, Cheyenne Knight and Rose Zhang from Team USA).

Format for the three days

Friday, Dec. 8: Scramble

In this round, each player hits a tee shot and then the team selects the ball to be used for the next stroke. From there, both players hit their next shots from that spot. This process continues until the ball is holed.

Saturday, Dec. 9: Foursomes

This is the most traditional of the three days, adhering to a format that is consistently featured in both the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup. Each team’s players alternate hitting shots with the same ball until the ball is holed. One player will tee off on the odd-numbered holes, and the other tees off on the even-numbered holes.

Sunday, Dec. 10: Modified fourballs

This final round will feature a format new to team play and a twist on traditional fourball. In the modified format, both players tee off, and then they switch balls for their second shots and play that same ball until it is holed. The lower score of the partners is then counted as the team score for the hole.