Alex Hunter previews the Grant Thornton Invitational and gives his picks for your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups.
The third annual Grant Thornton Invitational will be played at the Gold Course (par 72, 7,382 yards, Bermuda greens) of Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, this week. This is a 16-team tournament, with each squad featuring one player from the PGA TOUR and one player from the LPGA TOUR. The Gold Course has been the host of the Grant Thornton Invitational since the event’s inception three years ago and this venue has hosted the LPGA TOUR’s CME Group Tour Championship since 2013.
This three-day event that begins Friday features a different format each day, with scramble format for Friday, alternate shot Saturday and modified four-ball for Sunday, which is when each player tees off, then the teammates switch balls for the remainder of the hole. Each player will accrue the same amount FPTS as their teammate for DFS, so there is no advantage to rostering one teammate over the other. At last year’s Grant Thornton Invitational, Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatankit won by one shot at -27.
Below, I dive into two of my favorite DFS options on DraftKings for the Grant Thornton Invitational.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $30K Sand Trap [$10K to 1st]
Corey Conners/Brooke Henderson ($9,900)
This Canadian duo will be making their third start together at the Grant Thornton Invitational this week and are a terrific spend at $9,900. Conners and Henderson have flourished as a pairing, finishing second and fourth at the first two editions of this tournament. Conners is on the heels of a seventh-place finish at the Hero World Challenge last week and he caught fire in the final round, with a 7-under 65 at Albany Golf Course. Conners has made 20-of-21 cuts with 12 top-25 finishes this season and Henderson is also in compelling form.
She has made 21-of-24 cuts this season with three top-10 finishes, including a win at the CPKC Women’s Open in August and a T-7 at the CME Group Tour Championship three weeks ago, which is played at this week’s host venue in the Gold Course. Henderson has produced six top-10 finishes in 11 solo starts at the Gold Course, and she and Conners should once again contend at this par 72 this week.
Billy Horschel/Andrea Lee ($7,100)
This duo finished a lackluster T-14 at the 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational, but both players are in much better form this time around and this squad should have a better performance in their second attempt as a pairing this week. Horschel has only missed one cut in his last six starts and he has finished inside the top-12 twice during this stretch, including a T-11 at the Bank of Utah Championship in October. Horschel has gained strokes on approach and with his putter in back-to-back starts, whereas Lee has been very consistent on the LPGA TOUR this season, making 21-of-22 cuts with six top-10 finishes.
She ranks 13th in total strokes gained this season and she just finished T-33 at the Gold Course three weeks ago for the CME Group Tour Championship, including a final round 4-under 68. Lee has competed at this venue five times as an individual and twice with a teammate, including a T-7 at last year’s Grant Thornton Invitational with Max Greyserman as her partner. Lee and Horschel bring similar upside this week and are arguably the best value on the board this week. Despite carrying the seventh-best odds to win the Grant Thornton Invitational on DraftKings Sportsbook at +1100, Horschel and Lee are only the 12th-most expensive team for DFS this week.
