Nelly Korda and Tony Finau birdied the 18th hole to polish off a combined 16-under 56 and take a one-shot lead after one day of the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational on Friday in Naples, Fla.
Korda and Finau lead by one shot over two teams: Lucas Glover and Ireland’s Leona Maguire, and Denny McCarthy and Megan Khang, who carded 15-under 57s at Tiburon Golf Club.
The tournament features 16 mixed teams with one male and one female player. The teams played a scramble format Friday. Saturday’s action will be foursomes (alternate shot) and Sunday will be a modified four-ball, where both teammates will tee off, then switch balls for their second shots and play that ball until holed.
After Finau and Korda were 13 under par through 16 holes, Finau sank a short eagle putt at the par-5 17th to move into a tie for the lead before they added one last birdie to eke in front.
Rising LPGA star Rose Zhang teamed up with Sahith Theegala this week, and they birdied all but four holes for a 14-under 58. They are tied with Nick Taylor of Canada and Ruoning Yin of China; Jason Day of Australia and Lydia Ko of New Zealand; and the English pairing of Justin Rose and Charley Hull.
The Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Brooke Henderson posted a 13-under 59, tied for eighth with Cameron Champ and U.S. Women’s Open winner Allisen Corpuz.
The pairing of Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson are at 12-under 60, along with Swedes Ludvig Aberg and Madelene Sagstrom.
–Field Level Media