GRANT THORNTON INVITATIONAL NAPLES, FL (DEC 08-10)

[JetSpeed79]

1 hour ago, gsrjc said:

Great event. Hope the two tours keep this up and they get more teams next year. 

Agreed. Fun to watch. I'll remember this and look forward to it next time around. 

[AKL Kiwi]

Nice win for Ko & Day. Had to watch the trophy presentation on Golf Central online. I guess they were already over time but a playoff was always a possibility so surprised they stopped for our broadcast viewers.

Hopefully we see more county pairings next year a Rory/Leona would have created more interest. Lydia will have Ryan Fox on the PGA as a possibility and Minjee could go with Jason. There are Korean, Chinese and Thai pairings also possible.   

Enjoyed watching the Brooke/Corey and Lexi/Rickie pairings but they were all exciting to watch at various times. 

[jimecherry]

1 minute ago, AKL Kiwi said:

Nice win for Ko & Day. Had to watch the trophy presentation on Golf Central online. I guess they were already over time but a playoff was always a possibility so surprised they stopped for our broadcast viewers.

Hopefully we see more county pairings next year a Rory/Leona would have created more interest. Lydia will have Ryan Fox on the PGA as a possibility and Minjee could go with Jason. There are Korean, Chinese and Thai pairings also possible.   

Enjoyed watching the Brooke/Corey and Lexi/Rickie pairings but they were all exciting to watch at various times. 

if minwu has a good year could have minjee paired with him thus forcing day out.

[Dazgore]

Surely Lyds and J Day can defend, but the Min's Lee also provide a team.

 

No need for Day to be forced out.

 

The country aspect is a great idea though, plenty of good Japanese and South Korean pairings I can think of.

 

Anyway, this tournament was great, I enjoyed the format.

 

And as a golf tragic I will watch next week, although not looking forward to the Tiger love, and the commentators fawning over Charlie and his "completive spirit" when quite frankly he comes across as a spoilt brat and a bit if a ******.

 

Good player though

[gsrjc]

Agreed. Just let more teams into the tournament 

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by JungleJimbo

[gsrjc]

Don’t make it too complicated. Just let the teams pick themselves. We don’t need Koreans vs US vs Ireland vs Japanese etc.  Once that happens then more cooks in the kitchen. Let the players have the fun and decide. 

[Chopper Dave]

Enjoyable stuff. Would like to see a bit more of it

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

[Argonne69]

Mixed feelings about the format. The scramble portion is a bit of a joke, as they're just too good. A decent team can easily fall back far enough that it would be tough to catch up in two rounds. However, I guess everyone is playing the same format, so you had better bring your A game from the start. A reverse scramble, i.e. worse-ball, would be interesting.

 

How about a new four ball format? Players hit their drives, and then their partners not only have to use their teeshots, but also their clubs. Lol.

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Argonne69

[8602081]

Congrats to Day/Ko..  Very enjoyable to watch, maybe next year the field will be bigger..

 

 

[Rapidcat]

38 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

How about a new four ball format? Players hit their drives, and then their partners not only have to use their teeshots, but also their clubs. Lol.

 

 

I love it, just make sure a few left handers are in the event paired with right handers

[18majors]

7 minutes ago, Rapidcat said:

I love it, just make sure a few left handers are in the event paired with right handers

 

I really hope they get rid of "Modified Four-Ball"; what's the point?

[18majors]

 

I really like this article from Golf Digest:

Amid the tense debate over pro golf's future, the LPGA/PGA Tour's mixed event offers a lesson: Don't forget about the golf

 

"The women stole the show. It was the best possible scenario for the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational."

[GolfMoose]

1 hour ago, 18majors said:

 

I really hope they get rid of "Modified Four-Ball"; what's the point?

Well, I'm guessing they chose this format as one where both players absolutely had to play a role on each hole, to really feature the "team" aspect.  And to avoid those (embarrassing?) four-ball situations where one player contributes almost nothing to the effective score. I think I like that it's less possible for a strong player to shield/carry their partner, both have to contribute, isn't there actually less ability to "hide" in this flavor.

[Shakeshook]

On 12/8/2023 at 12:55 PM, Shakeshook said:

Team Anzac for me here. But I’m starting to tire of the PGA product. LlV ain’t helping keep my interest in men’s golf. LPGA all the way 🙂 

👏🇦🇺🇳🇿🦘🐑  😆 

[Ferguson]

Was this event as great as advertised or did it just come at a time when the PGA and LPGA needed a boost/distraction?   

Other than the format needing a little tweaking, I felt it was good golf TV. 

 

 

Pros:

It was good they didn't attempt to add a "Bill Murray" element. 

It was much better than watching no-pulse Scheffler.

 

 

 

 

[MJ2712]

6 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

Mixed feelings about the format. The scramble portion is a bit of a joke, as they're just too good. A decent team can easily fall back far enough that it would be tough to catch up in two rounds. However, I guess everyone is playing the same format, so you had better bring your A game from the start. A reverse scramble, i.e. worse-ball, would be interesting.

 

How about a new four ball format? Players hit their drives, and then their partners not only have to use their teeshots, but also their clubs. Lol.

 

It was a fun tournament but I agree that the format could be improved. I would prefer two tougher rounds and only one birdie fest. Sunday wasn't as exciting as it could have been.

[GolfMoose]

How about modifying the scramble so the tee off is like alternate shot, they only get one, shared in odd/even fashion, but then play scramble from that point on.  That would lower scores, reward driving accuracy and maybe highlight approach and scrambling skills across the tours.  Or perhaps that's getting too tricked up and two rounds of alternate shot is the simplest.

[18majors]

 

The Lydia we remember:

 

 

[Argonne69]

52 minutes ago, GolfMoose said:

How about modifying the scramble so the tee off is like alternate shot, they only get one, shared in odd/even fashion, but then play scramble from that point on.  That would lower scores, reward driving accuracy and maybe highlight approach and scrambling skills across the tours.  Or perhaps that's getting too tricked up and two rounds of alternate shot is the simplest.

 

Or a shamble. Take the best drive, but then you play your own ball in from there similar to best ball. 

 

[Argonne69]

24 minutes ago, 18majors said:

 

The Lydia we remember:

 

 

 

 

[Argonne69]

5 hours ago, GolfMoose said:

Well, I'm guessing they chose this format as one where both players absolutely had to play a role on each hole, to really feature the "team" aspect.  And to avoid those (embarrassing?) four-ball situations where one player contributes almost nothing to the effective score. I think I like that it's less possible for a strong player to shield/carry their partner, both have to contribute, isn't there actually less ability to "hide" in this flavor.

 

I thought the modified four ball kept the long hitting PGA players from overpowering the course. The LPGA pros hit some nice tee shots, but they would have generally been playing first on their approaches. It gave the men a few more longer irons into the greens, and prevented a pitch and putt. 

 

[woahnelly]

wasn't a fan of the modified 4 ball - just do scramble / fourball / and foursomes on the last day - hopefully next year add 32 teams! if they can fill the Dow and Zurich with schlubs, this event can't be any worse! 

[jimecherry]

13 minutes ago, woahnelly said:

wasn't a fan of the modified 4 ball - just do scramble / fourball / and foursomes on the last day - hopefully next year add 32 teams! if they can fill the Dow and Zurich with schlubs, this event can't be any worse! 

no chance on the 32 teams but 20-24 is definitely a possibility

[18majors]

 

@AKL Kiwi

 

Have you seen this:

 

 

[khalespace]

20 hours ago, jimecherry said:

no chance on the 32 teams but 20-24 is definitely a possibility

There is not enough money for 32 teams. 16 to 20 is probably right if they increase the purse to $5 mil. Lilia Vu deserves a partner in the top 50 of the Men's ranking.

[woahnelly]

1 hour ago, khalespace said:

There is not enough money for 32 teams. 16 to 20 is probably right if they increase the purse to $5 mil. Lilia Vu deserves a partner in the top 50 of the Men's ranking.

 

Lilia deserves a real sponsor, her hat looks like a minor league baseball team 

Edited December 12, 2023 by woahnelly

[khalespace]

3 hours ago, woahnelly said:

 

Lilia deserves a real sponsor, her hat looks like a minor league baseball team 

I heard from her Dad's friends that Kingston pays her close to $1 mil for the hat deal. Not bad. Kingston is in Fountain Valley, her home town. Her dad is a golf coach for many of my golf friends.

[woahnelly]

35 minutes ago, khalespace said:

I heard from her Dad's friends that Kingston pays her close to $1 mil for the hat deal. Not bad. Kingston is in Fountain Valley, her home town. Her dad is a golf coach for many of my golf friends.

 

That's good for her, hopefully she can get some Nike, Adidas, Puma, or even J Lindberg drip too.