Grant Thornton Invitational: Format, field, schedule as Nelly Korda leads LPGA Tour and PGA Tour mixed team event

The Grant Thornton Invitational is back this week, live on Sky Sportswith the stars of the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour coming together for a unique mixed team event. Here's a look at the format, range, schedule and everything you need to know…

What is it?

The 54-hole tournament is a mixed team event where 16 LPGA Tour and 16 PGA Tour professionals compete against each other in a special sanctioned tournament.

The three-day tournament offers three different formats of team play and allows the 32-player field to compete for equal prize money and visibility.

This is the second consecutive year the tournament has appeared on the schedule, having launched in 2023 as the first co-sanctioned event between the LPGA Tour and the PGA Tour from JCPenney Classic in 1999.

What formats are used?

Friday's action is played under as a screamingwhere each player hits a tee and then the team chooses which ball to use for the next shot. Both players hit the next shot from that spot and the process continues until the ball is full.

The second round uses fourwith the players of each team taking turns hitting shots with the same ball until the ball is in a hole. One player goes on the odd numbered holes and the other goes on the even numbered holes.

The final on Sunday will then be played under a modified fourballwhere both players go and switch balls for their second shot. They then play that same ball until it is in a hole, with the lowest score between the pair then counting as the team's score for that hole.

Where is it played?

The tournament will take place at the Tiburón Golf Club, which hosts the LPGA Tour season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and the QBE Shootout – a team event that ran on the PGA Tour until its removal at the end of 2022.

Who is playing there?

Five of the world's top 10 are in the women's game, with world No. 1 Nelly Korda – the LPGA Tour Player of the Year after seven wins around the world in 2024 – com- featuring Tony Finau and two-time major champion Lilia Vu along with Luke List.

AIG Women's Open champion Lydia Ko is back to defend her title with former world No.1 Jason Day, with Solheim Cup star Celine Boutier also in action and partner Matthieu Pavon.

Lexi Thompson is partnered with Rickie Fowler and Lauren Coughlin will play with Cameron Young, while Sahith Theegala is the top-ranked player in the men's game and will partner Allisen Corpuz.

What is available?

Although the event is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, it does not count as an official tournament and the money won is unofficial in the long season.

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and Rolex Women's World Golf Ranking are not given, although there is a $4m (£3.1m) prize purse and the winners will share $1m (£784,000) equally.

Who won it before?

Day and Ko will be defending champions after last year's one-stroke victory over Conners and Henderson, with Swedish pair Ludvig Åberg and Madelene Sagstrom finishing two strokes back in third.

Theegala and Tom Hoge won the final edition of the QBE Shootout before it was scrapped, with Kuchar and Englishman Harris the three-time champions of the event in its old format.

How can I watch Sky Sports live?

There will be three hours of live coverage from each of the three rounds, with coverage starting at 6pm on Friday and 7pm on Saturday before switching back to 6pm for the final day.

The tournament is one of two live on Sky Sports Golf this week, with the DP World Tour's Alfred Dunhill Championship live from 10am on Thursday and Friday before kicking off at 9.30am over the weekend.

Who will win the Grant Thornton Invitational? Watch all week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round starts on Friday from 6pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour and more with NOW.

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