Who won the 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational? Final leaderboard explored
The Grant Thornton Invitational closed its inaugural edition this Sunday, December 10. It was a very enjoyable event for the participating players and many of them said goodbye to the Tiburon Golf Club of Florida by calling for the generalization of mixed events.
The team of Lydia Ko and Jason Day won the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational with a score of 26-under 190. Ko and Day climbed to the top of the leaderboard after the second day and managed to stay there.
Grant Thornton Invitational final leaderboard
Below is the final leaderboard for the Grant Thornton Invitational:
1 Lydia Ko / Jason Day -26
2 Brooke Henderson / Corey Conners -25
3 Madelene Sagstrom / Ludvig Åberg -24
T4 Megan Khang / Denny McCarthy -23
T4 Nelly Korda / Tony Finau -23
T6 Leona Maguire / Lucas Glover -22
T6 Lexi Thompson / Rickie Fowler -22
8 Angel Yin / Nick Taylor -21
T9 Rose Zhang / Sahith Theegala -20
T9 Lilia Vu / Joel Dahmen -20
T9 Charley Hull / Justin Rose -20
12 Celine Boutier / Harris English -19
13 Mel Reid / Russell Henley -16
T14 Allisen Corpuz / Cameron Champ -14
T14 Andrea Lee / Billy Horschel -14
16 Cheyenne Knight / Tom Hoge -13
Grant Thornton Invitational: Highlights
It was a great victory for Lydia Ko and Jason Day as the Grant Thornton Invitational undoubtedly left the best emotions for the end. In fact, the champions saw their title threatened by more than one rival.
Canadians Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners, as well as Swedes Madelene Sagstrom and Ludvig Aberg had exceptional performances on Sunday. The two teams finished in second and third place, respectively.
One of the pre-tournament favorites, the team of Nelly Korda and Tony Finau, fell to fourth after being first on the first day and second after the second day. They finished tied with the Megan Khang / Denny McCarthy team.
Ko and Day's victory was supported by six birdies with no bogey, as well as their stability throughout the event. The Kiwi and the Aussie achieved scores of 58-66-66.
Both Ko and Day are major champions and have previously been ranked number one in their respective world rankings. This is the second victory of the season for Day (who won the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson) and the first for Ko.
The Grant Thornton Invitational generated very favorable opinions among the players. According to Golfweek's Beth Ann Nichols, many of the male players advocated for more mixed tournaments.
"There’s no reason we can’t have more mixed-team events," said Joel Dahmen, according to Golfweek. "There are so many events on the PGA Tour, ratings aren’t always amazing in some of those fields. To bring in the women’s game would be awesome. I was completely outclassed today by Lexi [Thompson]."
Billy Horschel, for his part, had this to say (via Golfweek):
"We need to do this for the game of golf. We do a lot of stuff that looks out for the players, but we need to make sure we are taking care of the fans and thinking about the fans more."
Other media covering the event have echoed similar sentiments. Players such as Sahith Theegala, Justin Rose and Lucas Glover have also encouraged the possibility of teaming up with LPGA Tour stars.