NAPLES, Fla. – The last time the PGA Tour and LPGA held a mixed team event, Rose Chan wasn’t even born yet. Ludwig Aberg was just two months old in December 1999, when legends Laura Davis and John Daly won the final edition of the J.C. Penney Classic.
For generations of players, this week’s inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational is a new concept, and they want more of it.
“We need to do this for the game of golf,” Billy Horschel said of merging the two tours. “We do a lot of things to take care of the players, but we need to take care of the fans and think about them more.”
Speaking of fans, Tiburon Golf Club had more fans than any previous QBE Shootout or CME Group Tour Championship. Cheyenne Knight teed off early with partner Tom Hoge and was surprised by the number of fans who gathered at the first tee. Tournament officials said ticket sales and concession sales this week were double compared to last year’s QBE, and hospitality was sold out.
Knight hopes some of those local fans will return to CME next year, with the winner receiving a $4 million first-place check, the largest in women’s sports.
Joel Damen said he was surprised by the number of children he saw this week, especially little girls, which was much higher than an average week on the PGA Tour. He called watching Lexi Thompson’s Aces play on Saturday one of the highlights of the year and said he would like to see Grant Thornton’s field expand from 16 teams in 2024.
“There’s no reason we can’t have more mixed team events,” Dahmen said after Saturday’s foursomes game. “There are so many events on the PGA Tour that the ratings aren’t necessarily great in some areas. It would be great to introduce a women’s game as well.
“I completely lost to Lexi today.”
The buzz earlier in the week at Grant Thornton was overshadowed by the United States Golf Association and R&A rollback news, the Jon Rahm and LIV Golf drama, and the controversy that dominated the golf conversation on social media and beyond. . But the actions in Tiburon provided a much-needed reprieve from the issues that divide golf fans.
Grant Thornton was a celebration of what unites friendship, competition, and inspiration. Thursday’s junior clinic with Amy Bockerstedt, Jessica Korda, Leona Maguire and Damen symbolizes that golf can bring good. Bockerstedt’s “I Got This Foundation” is one of his charities that will benefit from funds raised this week.
Standing on the first tee on Friday, Sahith Segala turned to Damen’s caddy and said how great it was to play in the same group as world No. 1 Lilia Vu, with whom he was playing for the first time, and to partner with Chan. He said it was “cool”. He predicted that the dominant amateur player would become No. 1 on the LPGA in the future.
“Me and Joel were joking that Lilia and Rose were probably going to be better than us,” said Segala, who won her first PGA Tour title at this year’s Fortinet Championship.
PGA Tour players praised the LPGA players’ games throughout the week and felt it was authentic. Former world number one Jason Day asked Lydia Ko about playing on the wedge and she said she was trying to emulate her Kiwi partner during the off-season.
Major champion Justin Rose described playing partner Charlie Hull as an old-school player and detailed the shape of her iron shots. He called Hull “fearless” and described her short game as “incredible.”
Such accolades go a long way toward increasing respect for female players who fight week after week for the attention of not only the sports world, but those already present in the golf world.
Rose, who founded and supported the Rose Ladies Series to give British athletes a competitive platform during the COVID-19 pandemic, understands this better than most. .
“We need fan awareness in order to have equal pay,” Rose said. “Because at the end of the day, this is a commercial business. To get TV revenue on the back end, you need eyes to watch it.
“So I think obviously fans will be able to pick their favorite players, be a little more aware of the skill level of the women’s game, be able to relate to the players and their stories, and be more likely to continue to watch. ” I think this is definitely one of the key events that will help with that. ”
Nick Taylor noted the surprised reaction from Napoli fans to the fact that women often hit the ball closer than men. Although Shot Link was not available this week, we expect the unique format to provide some interesting data points next year, especially the modified four-ball, where players hit a drive and then exchange balls.
Making Olympic golf a mixed sport has long been discussed, and it was brought up again in Naples, as are larger mixed team events like the Presidents Cup.
“When you look at my ground ball, somebody’s got to step up,” Horschel said.
“A Ryder Cup-style team competition between America and Europe, or America and the world, men and women…I think that would be another home run for everyone involved. I think that will come in time.
“If it’s not being talked about, I don’t know. Maybe we need to change the people in office and get more innovative thinkers in there.”
The game needs that.