Grantland ποΈ
Teamwork makes the dream workThe 2025 PGA TOUR season starts three weeks from tomorrow! Remove a couple of holidays, weekends, and we are literally 11-12 days away from the trade-winds of Kapalua. While you wait, I present the Grant Thornton Invitational. Formally the QBE Shootout cash grab that started back in 1989, the event has transitioned into a mixed PGA TOUR and LPGA cash grab starting in 2023. I realize this isn't the Masters and I will get to the goods in a second, but the Grant Thornton represents the last time we will see elite ball striking in 2024. Sixteen mixed teams are heading to Naples for a $4 million dollar purse and winner's share of $1 million per team. Ten of the top 30 in the women's Rolex World rankings are competing along with five from the men's top 30 in their Official World Golf Rankings. That's the same strength of field that we saw last year for the first edition of this mixed format. Both the LPGA and the PGA TOUR have been coming to Tiburon Golf Club for years. The women began wrapping their season on the Gold Course in 2014 while the men have competed here in the QBE since 2001. Southwest Florida has the weather on reset and this is a Ritz Carlton resort. Combine those characteristics and you can see why some players continue to compete even deep into December. Grant Thornton Invitational starts in...Couples retreatThe Gold Course at Tiburon Golf Club is a par 72 scorecard. The men's course measures 7,382 yards and the women's has been increased to 6,788. That's 193 yards more than last year and 232 yards longer than the ladies played three weeks ago for the CME Group Tour Championship. This is Florida golf at its stereotypical finest. Fifteen holes have water in play, 50 bunkers guard the landing areas, and instead of rough you see acres of crushed coquina shell. When you watch on television, these are all the vast off-white areas you see. We're in Florida so it's Bermudagrass wall to wall. Outside the grass and crushed shell there are native areas with waist high grasses and God knows what else! Don't get too scared, three weeks ago, Jeeno Thitikul won the CME at 22 under par and gave RTL our eleventh winner of the year! Last year, Jason Day and Lydia Ko captured this title with a 26 under par total. Nineteen under par finished with 11 teams in front of them. Needless to say, this is a βteam birdiefest.β If you plan to win, you MUST get off to a quick start. Round one is a scramble format. Teams play their best shot for each stroke until the ball is holed. The round one leaders last year were 16 under par: Tony Finau and Nelly Korda. Day two is foursomes. This is your alternate shot format made famous by the Solheim Cup and Ryder/Presidents Cups. Sunday, we close the 54-hole scoring spree with a unique modified best ball format. Both players will tee off and then switch balls. From there, they will play their partner's ball into the hole. Ludvig Γ berg and Madelene Sagstrom fired a 12 under par 60 last year on Sunday. No lead is safe essentially as each day is literally moving day. The average winning score of the CME since they moved to Tiburon is 19 under par. The QBE winning team was consistently in the 30s. If you are saving pars or making bogeys, you will get lapped by this leaderboard. Current form may not be a decided advantage either. Lydia Ko missed the tour championship last year not being ranked in the 2023 LPGA's top 60 and Jason Day was no Scottie Scheffler in the fall. Get hot at the right time and you can reap the rewards. Along those lines, the two tours come to the Ritz because it is the RITZ, but also for the weather in southeast Florida. Temperatures will be in the low 80s and no rain in the three-day forecast. Humidity levels are predicted in the high 90%s so it will feel warmer than 82 and the ball will be flying. The Gold Course is only a couple miles from the Gulf of Mexico. We expect 16-18 mph winds throughout all three rounds. I'm not sure if that's enough to slow these teams of two down. The course has 50 acres of fairway, and the average green size is 7,200 sq/ft. It looks like target golf to the average golfer, but those landing areas are large. Professional golf in 2024 is a different game than in year's past. These players turn it on and off in a momentβs notice. The elite will be ready to play come Friday. Scottie had not competed since the Presidents Cup in late September and just won on Sunday by six strokes! The best will be at the top of this leaderboard, and we will break them down as we always do. Enjoy the last week of competitive golf and relax this holiday season. It won't be long before we are back as The Sentry starts on January second! Mixed resultsOur coverage of the LPGA and PGA TOUR gives us an extra edge on weeks like the Grant Thornton. A large majority of these PGA TOUR players are even in playing ability. I think there is a real edge in the partner game and our weekly coverage of the LPGA gives us a decided advantage against the books. Breaking down the teams, I ranked the players based upon a couple of primary skills. The first edge comes in the form of ball speed. Teams essentially have to birdie 80% of the holes on Friday in the scramble. When you're building a scramble team, what do you always look for? I look for a bomber. Ball speed is a huge advantage this week and by lengthening the ladies course it becomes even more of an edge. Last year's champions posted the low round on Saturday's foursomes (alternate-shot). The other two formats promote scoring, this one promotes team ball striking. The last three top 10s at the CME gained an average of nearly four strokes on the field with their iron game. Approach play is the most important skill on the Gold Course. Teams have to keep giving themselves legitimate birdie chances. These greens are designed with shelves, tiers, and sections. Players must knock it close in order to have makable birdie putts. Iron play gets compounded when you can't develop a rhythm. In alternate shot you may not hit an iron for 15+ minutes during the course of a round. When it is your time, can you take dead aim and perform? Trust me, our winner will have no problem doing it.
Poll results: Last week in honor of Tiger's tournament we asked what his greatest accomplishment was. Hundreds of you voted and the Tiger Slam was number one (42%). The 142-event cut streak was next (28%), six USGA titles (11%), 82 victories (10%), and the 2019 Masters (9%). I definitely agree, in fact a little side note for all of you. Have you ever looked over my shoulder in the RTL studio? Behind me are the four Tiger Slam pin flags (2000 Pebble, St. Andrews, Valhalla, and the 2001 Masters) signed by Tiger himself. He autographed them for me back in my Isleworth days. Thanks for voting! Team events are always putting contests. The last three CME winners gained an average of 9.7 strokes on the field with their flatstick. 9.7!! These are Bermudagrass greens, and I have taken that into account handicapping the flatstick aficionados. Outside of a couple entries at the bottom of the odds board, any team can win with two hot putters. I looked back across the QBR and CME leaderboards. Our card represents players who have separated themselves on the greens of the Gold Course. We have plenty of history on the LPGA side and I'm counting on that research to provide a positive card. The women are the only players who compete here in stroke play.Not to mention, they did it for $4 million (first place) this year! Understanding which LPGA stars perform well in Florida and Naples is key. Can players increase their performance ceiling in a team environment? I believe there's something to that, so I scoured the results from the Dow Great Lakes (LPGA) and Zurich (PGA TOUR) mid-season team events. It proved worthwhile as certain players compete well in these types of formats especially on the LPGA side. By looking outside the obvious elements there's a real opportunity to grab one more win. I realize the odds aren't very long, but +1000 is still a bigger rake than any other realistic Sunday bet this weekend. Outright Winners - Grant Thornton Invitational
β Read between the linesThe best place to follow news about Read The Line is right here! β β Do you know what it means to be a member of Read The Line?We provide more outrights, prop bets, H2H matchups, DFS lineups, and One & Done picks. Hit the link above and see for yourself! β DISCLAIMER: Read The Line provides information and insights concerning the game of golf, aimed at creating more intelligent sports fans. Read The Line does not seek to encourage any of our readers, members or users to engage in sports betting or otherwise make wagers based on the information and insights provided. Any betting or wagers made by readers, members or users are undertaken at their own risk and such activity does not give rise to any legal responsibility on the part of Read The Line. For more information, please refer to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Think you have a gambling problem? Reach out for help. Read The line promotes responsible gaming. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit these online resources: |
β