"Team FiNelly" - Tony Finau and Nelly Korda express excitement for Grant Thornton Invitational
Tony Finau will pair up with LPGA Tour golfer Nelly Korda for the very first edition of the Grant Thornton Invitational. The tournament features PGA and LPGA Tour professionals in a 54-hole event, which will start with its inaugural round on Friday, December 8, and have its finale on Sunday, December 10, at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Ahead of the commencement of the tournament, Finau and Korda spoke to the media about their first outing together. They appreciated each other's games and opened up about the upcoming tournament.
Finau also unveiled their team name, saying:
"Our name is Team FiNelly and Certified Fresh."
"I got certified yesterday and I was pretty happy," added Korda.
The PGA Tour golfer also appreciated Korda for her incredible game saying (via SB Nation):
“I look up to Nelly. Even though she’s younger than me, she’s an incredible golfer. She’s been the No. 1 player in the world in the women’s game, and she’s someone that I think quite frankly a lot of us can still even learn from even on the men’s side.”
Finau also spoke about the game format, calling the tournament "unique":
"It’s huge for our game to join the men's and women’s tours together. To have some of the best players on both tours competing is unique for our game. There’s going to be a lot of great interest in this event moving forward. Being involved in the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational is cool — having Nelly as a partner is a great bonus.”
The three-day tournament features 16 PGA and 16 LPGA Tour players. They will compete for the winner's share of the $4 million purse.
When will Tony Finau and Nelly Korda tee off at the Grant Thornton Invitational?
Tony Finau and Nelly Korda will be the last pair to tee off for the first round of the 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational on Friday, December 8. The duo will tee off at 10:55 a.m. ET alongside Lexi Thompson and Rickie Fowler.
The first round of the tournament will start at 9:10 a.m. ET, with Mel Reid and Russell Henley taking the first shot of the day. They will be joined by Allisen Corpuz and Cameron Champ.
Rising star Rose Zhang has also joined the stellar field of the tournament. She will team up with Sahith Theegala and will tee off at 9:40 a.m. ET.
Here are the tee times for the 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational (all times in ET):
- 9:10 a.m. – Mel Reid/Russell Henley; Allisen Corpuz/Cameron Champ
- 9:25 a.m. – Leona Maguire/Lucas Glover; Madelene Sagstrom/Ludvig Aberg
- 9:40 a.m. – Rose Zhang/Sahith Theegala; Lilia Vu/Joel Dahmen
- 9:55 a.m. – Megan Khang/Denny McCarthy; Cheyenne Knight/Tom Hoge
- 10:10 a.m. – Brooke Henderson/Corey Conners; Ruoning Yin/Nick Taylor
- 10:25 a.m. – Andrea Lee/Billy Horschel; Celine Boutier/Harris English
- 10:40 a.m. – Lydia Ko/Jason Day; Charley Hull/Justin Rose
- 10:55 a.m. – Nelly Korda/Tony Finau; Lexi Thompson/Rickie Fowler