[PHOTO: Getty Images]
Trans-Tasman superstars Jason Day and Lydia Ko successfully teamed up to win the Grant Thornton Invitational teams event in Florida.
Part of the US golf ‘Silly season’, the mixed-team Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, sees teams of two players contest three rounds. The first round is an ambrose (scramble), the second is foursomes (alternate shot) and the final round is a modified four-ball. The modified four-ball had both players tee off and then switch balls for their second shots, before they played that ball until holed.
Australia’s Day and New Zealander, Ko teamed up to shoot 66 on Sunday afternoon, US time, to win the event with a 26-under par total. Canadian duo Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners finished in second place, one shot behind. Swedish duo Madelene Sagstrom and Ludvig Aberg were third at 24-under.
“It was the most stress free win because I just knew that Lyda was going to step up in the end, which was fantastic,” said Day, a former world No.1.
After carding a six-under 66 in foursomes on day two, the best round by two shots, Day and Ko took a two-shot lead going into the final day at Tiburon. Day, a 13-time PGA Tour winner and major champion, said he hoped the men’s and women’s tours in the US continued to link up at future Thornton Invitational editions.
“It was just it was a fun week I think having the the two tours joined this week was was a fun way to finish the year out. I’m hoping that we get to do it for a very long time,” he said.
Ko, herself a former world No.1, said: “It was so much fun. On the last hole, I wanted to just watch their drives one more time. I learned a lot, whether it was like short sighted chips or just how to commit and just hit bombs. I think this has just been a great start for another two tours coming together and having a missed event and I really hope that this is something that continues for a long time.”
