Players from the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour will compete for a $4million purse during a new mixed-team event over three days this December in Naples, Florida, the two circuits announced Wednesday.
The Grant Thornton Invitational, set to be played from December 8-10 at Tiburon Golf Club, will feature a 32-player field split evenly between professionals from both tours and with additional format details in development.
The tournament will be replacing the QBE Shootout, an unofficial money event usually played during the wrap-around season’s December break. It’ll be televised on NBC and Golf Channel.
‘As we look to capitalize on the growing interest in the game of golf, the addition of a mixed event to the calendar has been a priority,’ said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in a joint news release.
The last time the two tours held an annual mixed-team competition was in 1999, when John Daly and Laura Davies won the final edition of the JCPenney Classic.
‘By joining forces with the PGA Tour to host a mixed event where the top male and female golfers in the world compete alongside each other, we’re going to deliver a memorable and entertaining experience for all golf fans, showcasing our players’ incredible skills in a new context to a new audience,’ LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said.
‘This is an important step forward for golf, women’s golf and the LPGA.’
From 1960 to 1999, the JCPenney Classic was considered by many as the top mixed-team tournament but was eventually canceled due to a lack of interest from the tour’s best players.
In 1996, Tiger Woods played with another USGA amateur championship winner in Kelli Kuehne and ended up on the podium in the third place in the JC Penny Classic.
Last year, the QBE Shootout had several women competing in the men’s event, such as Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson, who were respectively paired up with Denny McCarthy and Maverick McNealy.
‘The Grant Thornton Invitational really is about being inclusive and showing people that golf can be accessible for everyone, no matter what way you play,’ Korda said in a statement.
‘This is going to be the perfect opportunity for me to do something important in helping to grow the game and inspire the next generation.’
source: dailimail
