If you drain a hole in one on the PGA Tour, drinks are on you when you get back to the clubhouse. Even if you’re 15 years old.
That’s what Charlie Woods was left to learn Sunday after his first-ever ace — a beautiful par three iron that left dad Tiger Woods almost giddy with joy in the aftermath. Soon after, Tiger told his son the bad news. Dropping that tee shot into the cup was gonna cost him once the round was over. Especially during an event in which John Daly and his son are also competitors.
At 15 years old, it would take a few allowances to pay for all the $12 beers at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Course. Fortunately for him, his dad and his $120 million in career earnings from PGA events alone should be able to cover the tab.
Some of the notable duos include Tony Finau and Nelly Korda, defending champions Jason Day and Lydia Ko, Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson, and Sahith Theegala and Allisen Corpuz.
Tiburon Golf Club will play host, and if that name sounds familiar to you, this Greg Norman-designed track is the annual home of the LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship. This year’s CME winner, Jeeno Thitikul, is in the Grant Thornton field and paired with fan-favorite Tom Kim.
Each round of the three-day tournament — action gets underway Friday — will feature a different format. Friday will be a scramble, Saturday will be foursomes and Sunday will be modified four-ball.
Golf course
Tiburon Golf Club | Par 72 | 7,382 yards
Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Jason Day of Australia walk from the third tee during the second round of the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club on December 09, 2023, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Grant Thornton Invitational betting odds
Team
Odds
Team
Odds
Korda/Finau
(+450)
Thitikul/Kim
(+500)
Ko/Day
(+700)
Henderson/Conners
(+800)
Corpuz/Theegala
(+1100)
Kupcho/Bhatia
(+1200)
Coughlin/Young
(+1400)
Boutier/Pavon
(+1400)
Thompson/Fowler
(+1400)
Lee/Greyserman
(+1600)
Khang/Kuchar
(+1600)
Stark/Poston
(+1800)
Ruffels/Dunlap
(+1800)
Vu/List
(+2200)
Tavatanakit/Knapp
(+2500)
Reid/Champ
(+5500)
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3413″ ]
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Grant Thornton Invitational picks to win
Jeeno Thitikul and Tom Kim
Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand poses with the trophy after winning the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Club on November 24, 2024, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Odds: 5/1
Analysis: This pick may seem obvious — and that’s because it is. Thitikul won on this very golf course just a few weeks ago, and Kim is fresh off a runner-up finish to Scottie Scheffler at the Hero World Challenge. Tough not to pick the hot hands.
Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners
Corey Conners of Canada and Brooke M. Henderson of Canada walk from the second tee during the second round of the Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburon Golf Club on December 09, 2023, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Odds: 8/1
Analysis: The Canadian duo is a great team to add to your card. Conners was in South Africa last week for the Nedbank Golf Challenge and finished the event in a tie for sixth. Henderson made it to the LPGA finale and tied for eighth. This team finished second to Day/Ko last year.
Jennifer Kupcho and Akshay Bhatia
Akshay Bhatia of the United States follows a shot on the third hole during the final round of the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course on December 08, 2024, in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Odds: 12/1
Analysis: Kupcho didn’t quite have the week Thitikul did at Tiburon in November, but she did finish in a tie for 12th. Her teammate Bhatia, like Kim, played in the Hero last week and grabbed solo fourth. Another partnership featuring two players in good form.
It’s time for the stars of the PGA Tour and LPGA to team up.
It’s time for the stars of the PGA Tour and LPGA to team up.
The 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational gets underway Friday in Naples, Florida, at Tiburon Golf Club. Sixteen teams comprised of the best players from the PGA Tour and LPGA will battle it out over 54 holes for the title. Jason Day and Lydia Ko are the defending champions of the mixed-team competition, which is in its second year.
The Grant Thornton Invitational will feature three different formats: scramble, foursomes and modified four-ball.
From TV coverage to field information and prize money, here’s what you need to know about the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational.
Grant Thornton Invitational course information
Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, is a par-72 layout measuring 7,382 yards for the men and 6,595 yards for the women. Greg Norman was the architect.
Grant Thornton Invitational purse, prize money
The purse at the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational is $4 million. The winning team will evenly split a $1 million prize.
Grant Thornton Invitational TV coverage
Friday, Dec. 13: 1-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Saturday, Dec. 14: 2-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3-5 p.m. ET (NBC) Sunday, Dec. 15: 1-2 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 2-4 p.m. ET (NBC)
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Scott has also benefitted plenty financially from Scheffler’s dominance. Although all caddies may be paid slightly different depending on their relationship with a player, the normal scale is as follows: 10 percent of winnings if a caddie’s player wins, 7 percent for a top 10 and 5 percent for making the cut.
Following that formula, Scott could be up to $5,338,504 this season, if not more, after the Hero World Challenge. Almost half of that amount — $2.5 million to be exact — came at the Tour Championship. There’s also a question mark for the PGA Championship, where Scott missed the third round to attend his daughter’s graduation.
Nevertheless, that number of projected earnings would rank top 20 on the PGA Tour this season, ahead of golfers like two-time winner Austin Eckroat, 2023 FedEx Cup winner Viktor Hovland and Hero runner-up Tom Kim, among others.
Here’s a breakdown of possible money Scott has earned caddying for Scheffler during 2024.
The world No. 1 picked up his ninth victory of the year Sunday, winning the 2024 Hero World Challenge for the second straight year. He dominated the field in the final round, shooting 9-under 63 to win by six shots over Tom Kim.
Scheffler will take home $1 million from the $5 million purse, but everyone was paid well in the 20-man field.
NASSAU, Bahamas — Eight wasn’t enough for Scottie Scheffler.
With birdies on three of the first four holes on Sunday, he assumed the lead and cruised to a six-stroke victory over Tom Kim at the 2024 Hero World Challenge for his ninth win of the year.
“It feels nice,” Scheffler said. “I’ve been fortunate to get some wins out of some really good golf. This was another week where I played really solid and was able to see some nice results from that. Overall it was a pretty fun year.”
Was it ever. Scheffler closed with a birdie at the final hole to shoot 9-under 63 at Albany Club, a 72-hole total of 25-under 263 and successfully defend his title at the 20-man unofficial event hosted by Tiger Woods.
“You were in my tummy last time,” Meredith Scheffler told the couple’s first born, son Bennett, who arrived in May and was carried around the course by her mother in a baby carrier.
Scheffler, the world No. 1 and FedEx Cup champion, won seven times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters, Players Championship and Tour Championship. He also won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, which he counts as win No. 8.
“Gotta enjoy each one, they’re all so unique,” Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott said. “It’s just good to see him back on the horse.” And he smiled a wry smile before dashing to the airport to catch a flight.
Scheffler opened with 67 and followed with a bogey-free 64 to assume the lead. But he shot a rather pedestrian third-round 69 and trailed Justin Thomas by one stroke heading into the final round. Thomas wedged from 112 yards to 3 feet at the first to protect his one-shot lead. But he made bogeys at Nos. 2 and 5 (and a birdie at three) to lose the lead and never got it back. Scheffler now has shot lower than Thomas, who closed in 71 and finished alone in third, eight of the last nine times they have been paired together.
“I would have liked to put a little more heat obviously on Scottie going to the back nine,” Thomas said. “But I mean, you know, obviously I can’t expect to have good things happen when I’m leading by one over Scottie and only shooting 1 under on Sunday.”
Scheffler stormed out of the gate hot to let it be known he meant business. He drained an 8-foot birdie at the first and reached the par-5 third hole in two and two-putted for another birdie. Then a body blow to the hopes of his competitors at the fourth: He sank a 49-foot birdie putt.
“Anytime you see a long putt go in like that, it’s always a good feeling and it’s good momentum and I try to use that as good fuel for the rest of the round,” he said.
Kim, who closed in 68, cut Scheffler’s lead to one momentarily with a 4-foot birdie at the ninth before Scheffler converted his own 4-foot birdie putt at nine in the next group. He kept the pedal down on the back nine, making birdie at 10 and went flag hunting at 13. He dripped in the 6-foot putt using the claw grip, taking his palm of the right hand off the club, which he used from around 15 feet and in this week for the first time in competition.
“It’s over,” a fan said, perhaps prematurely, but he wasn’t wrong.
Scottie Scheffler of the United States plays his shot from the fourth tee during the final round of the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course on December 08, 2024 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Scheffler left little doubt down the stretch, driving the green at the 359-yard par 4 14th for another birdie and adding circles on the card at Nos. 16 and 18.
When it was all said and done, some of the best players were left with nothing else to do but praise his brilliance.
“Sometimes he makes the competition look like he’s just playing around with us, you know what I mean, which isn’t easy to do,” Jason Day said.
To Kim, who often played money games at home in Dallas with Scheffler before the birth of Bennett and noted he lost 95 percent of those matches marveled at how Scheffler never goes out shoots and bad score.
“He comes out here and wins, he does it all the time,” Kim said. “I think the biggest thing that I see is that he’s always trying to get better. Despite winning nine times this year, he’s always finding little ways and I think it’s really, really cool to see and you can take a lot from that.”
Thomas and others echoed a similar sentiment that Scheffler excels at handling all the outside noise – whether it be the birth of his baby or being arrested before his tee time at the PGA Championship or just dealing with expectations he’s supposed to win every time he tees it up. No one has proved better at being able to compartmentalize and stay in his own little bubble.
“I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to win when you’re expected to win or when every single person that’s there expects you to play well and you expect you to play well and then to still play well,” Thomas said. “It truly is just as much of a talent as being able to, you know, control your distance with your wedges or flight a driver or hit it far, whatever it is, is being able to stay present, stay in the moment.
“It’s very hard to explain, but it’s so hard to do sometimes,” Thomas added. “To me that’s been the most impressive thing from Scottie.”
The year 2024 was for Scottie Scheffler, and if his latest putting adjustment is any indication, he’s in for only more success in 2025.
Scottie Scheffler’s 2012 GMC Yukon XL is officially being auctioned off to raise money for Triumph Over Kid Cancer, a charity near and dear to his heart, at Heritage Auctions. Starting bid: $50,000. Golfweek was the first to share the story of how Jim Nantz set the initial bid last month at a fundraising event attended by the Scheffler family in Houston.
The story of the car is worth telling again. In 2012, Scheffler’s high school team attended the Masters and his dad drove there in the family GMC with Scottie’s sisters. But the car broke down and Scott Scheffler purchased a new white GMC Yukon on the Monday after the Masters to drive home from Masters GMC in Augusta.
“Most people get a T-shirt, I got a $50,000 car payment,” Scott Scheffler said.
Dubbed “GMC Airlines,” it transported Scottie to junior tournaments, AJGA events, and college competitions, logging countless miles on the road from coast to coast. After his son graduated from Texas, Scott gifted the car to Scottie, making it the first car Scottie owned and he drove it for eight years and 184,000 miles.
He recalled putting a new transmission in the day before he left for PGA Tour Q-School in Alabama. He drove it to mini tour events and Monday qualifiers when he first turned pro in 2018, and during his season on the Korn Ferry Tour and it remained his primary vehicle with Duct tape on the steering wheel even after he became a Tour winner and millionaire many times over.
“I definitely drove it for too long,” Scheffler said.
Two years ago, Scheffler was playing the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, not far from his home in Dallas and had commuted there in his Yukon. His caddie, Ted Scott, had done the same in his 2008 Toyota Tundra from his home in Louisiana. Standing on the range, Scheffler observed, “I think you have the only car in player parking this week that is worth less than my car.”
An argument ensued.
“He’s like, ‘No way, man, Toyotas run forever, my car is worth way more than your car,’ ” Scheffler recounted. “We had this back and forth and we kept hitting balls and I said, ‘I got it, my car is worth more than your car because mine has the Masters GMC logo on the back and I’m a Masters champion.’ ”
Scottie said it was his dad who suggested they give the car to TOKC, which was started by James Ragan, a friend from junior golf who died from osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, to auction it and raise money.
“James was a buddy that I grew up with playing golf. He passed away due to cancer but he started this foundation,” Scottie said. “It’s something we’re very passionate about.”
Scheffler signed the dash and the passenger side (on the air bag panel) with a “First Owned Vehicle” inscription and the second signature appears on the right visor (vanity mirror cover).
As the auction web site notes, “Imagine if you owned the first car that Jack Nicklaus owned and drove cross country from tournament to tournament until he won his first Masters. That’s akin to this opportunity where you can win the first vehicle of two-time Masters winner Scottie Scheffler who is only 27 years old.”
Heritage Auctions, the auction house overseeing the auction, will be donating 100 percent of its commission to TOKC.
NASSAU, Bahamas – Justin Thomas has one last chance to win a tournament in 2024 and he’ll head into the final round with a one-stroke lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at the Hero World Challenge.
Thomas carded a bogey-free 6-under 66 at Albany Club on a warm and wind-swept Saturday to improve to 17-under 199.
“I didn’t think I played nearly as well as he had the first two days but it was tough out there and I made a few more putts,” he said.
His play has been none too shabby: he’s bogey-free for his last 51 holes, his lone bogey came at the par-5 third hole in the opening round. Thomas struggled mightily with the putter the first two days, ranking last in Strokes Gained: Putting, and joked, “there was only one way to go.”
Competing for the first time since welcoming the birth of his first child, daughter Molly, he reeled off birdies at Nos. 4 and 6 from inside 10 feet and then let his driver do some damage. Using a 46-inch driver this week, he drove the green at the 359-yard seventh to inside 10 feet and two-putted for birdie.
“That was nice,” he said. “I didn’t have to go full go. It was an advantage for me. I felt like I could be in control… Because how the green sits, you can’t see the ball until you get up there so it was nice to see it up there.”
He tacked on a birdie at nine to go out in 32, then started finding his touch from long range with his putter. First, he made an 18-foot par putt on the par-3 12th hole. His next birdie, at No. 14, was an unlikely one. After being out of position off the tee, his pitch ran 47 feet past the hole, but he buried it after recalling something his caddie had said the other day.
“I had a similar thing on Thursday where I hit a bad chip and Rev was, you can still make the putt, you’re fine, that kind of thing. I kind of reminded myself that,” he said.
Justin Thomas from 47 FEET OUT to grab a share of the lead! 📈
Thomas has had a lot of success at the Hero over the years, owning top-five finishes in his four most recent appearances (third/2023, fifth/2022, T-5/2021, T-5/2019). But victory has eluded the 15-time Tour winner since the 2022 PGA Championship.
“I’ve been progressing nicely, been working on all the right things. Feel like I’ve been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that’s all I can do. I can’t control everybody else or what’s going on, I’ve just got to keep playing as good as I possibly can and hope that it’s enough come Sunday,” he said.
If so, that trophy would come from none other than Tiger Woods.
“That would be great. I’ve had a couple opportunities in the past, but it’s definitely something I’d love to check off my box in my career at some point,” he said.
Scottie Scheffler of the United States walks off the seventh tee during the third round of the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course on December 07, 2024 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler shot 69 on Saturday and played his way into the final group alongside Thomas. But is he pleased with his play so far, which included an 8-under 64 on Friday? Not so much.
“Pleased I think would be a stretch, but overall my game’s in a good spot,” said Scheffler, who has never shot an over score in 15 rounds at Albany. “I’ve liked what I’ve seen the last few days out there on the course and hoping to finish off with a real solid round tomorrow.”
If pleased wasn’t the right description, Scheffler was asked what word he’d use instead. “That’s too difficult a question. My vocabulary is not that vast,” he said with a smile and a chuckle.
Earlier in his comments summing up the round, he chose the word “decent.”
“I had a stretch at 13, 14, 15 where I felt like I lost a shot or two there, but outside of that I did a lot of really good things today,” he said.
Scheffler complained of a few too many lip-outs spoiling what could’ve been another mid-60s round for him.
“I felt I had some good putts that should have gone in. I had a putt on 1 that looked really good, I had a putt on 10, putt there on 18 that I hit a really good putt just around the cup,” he said. “Overall I feel like it’s coming off my blade really nice. Yeah, so every time it looks like it’s going towards the hole, I feel like it should be going in and that’s a good feeling.”
Still, he’s poised to join Tiger Woods (2006, ’07) and Viktor Hovland (2021, ’22) as the only back-to-back winners of the Hero World Challenge.
Tom Kim of South Korea and caddie, Paul Tesori, look on from the third tee during the third round of the Hero World Challenge 2024 at Albany Golf Course on December 07, 2024 in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Tom Kim had a good feeling.
Coming off the lone hiccup of his day at 17, where he needed two shots to extricate himself from the sand, Kim caught the left bunker at 18 and got his revenge. He holed the bunker shot for birdie, his 12th of the day, and posted 10-under 62. Then he told caddie Paul Tesori he knew he was going to make it.
“He actually called BS on it,” Kim said. “He said, ‘No, you didn’t,’ and I tell him like I really did. I saw a good spot, it was a really good spot to miss at. We talked over the shot and kind of let it go. As soon as it landed, I was like, man, this is a really good shot.”
TOM KIM, ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 🤯🔥
Bunker hole-out on 18 for an incredible round of 62!
Man, was it a really good day. Kim’s 12 birdies were the most he’s ever made on the Tour.
“I had a few long putts where you’re not really expecting to make and those go in. I did a lot of good things just to keep my momentum going,” he said, noting a clutch par save at No. 8 and a 20-footer on No. 9. “Made a bomb on 10. Had a really easy — I hit a good drive on 11 so it was kind of like an easy birdie, but didn’t hit it on the green and chipped it really good.”
Given that the wind picked up and scoring tended to be higher on Saturday, Scheffler was impressed with Kim’s ability to go low.
“That’s pretty serious golf out there,” he said. “I feel like I played pretty solid yesterday with no wind and shot 8, so 10 in the wind is a pretty special round.”
Kim vaulted to 15 under overall, good for solo third and two back of the lead, which is all the more impressive given that he was 3 over after six holes and opened in 2-over 74. Kim said he made a small adjustment that has paid quick dividends.
“My spin numbers were coming out a little different than usual. So paid a lot of attention after the round and just put that in play yesterday and automatically I saw some results and I just kind of did the same thing and just seems to be paying off a little bit,” he said.
After 54 holes of the 2024 Hero World Challenge at Albany, Justin Thomas holds a one-shot lead at 17 under. The man behind him? World No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday.
Tom Kim was on fire during the third round, shooting a 10-under 62. He’s alone in third at 15 under, two shots back of the lead.
The four-day, 72-hole stroke play event has a $5 million purse and a $1 million first-place prize. There are also OWGR points up for grabs this week.
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel/NBC Sports app
1:30 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock/NBC Sports app
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Scottie Scheffler is up by two on the field, his second-round 64 marking the low round of the day Friday and tied for low round of the week.
Justin Thomas and Akshay Bhatia are tied for second at 11 under, two back. Bhatia was a late add to the event and he’s making the most of his visit to the Bahamas.
Sepp Straka, the last man in the field after a late Tony Finau WD, is tied for fifth at 7 under.
The four-day, 72-hole stroke play event has a $5 million purse and a $1 million first-place prize. There are also OWGR points up for grabs this week.
From Saturday’s third round starting times as well as TV and streaming information, here’s what you need to know about the 2024 Hero. All times listed are ET.
12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel/NBC Sports app
2:30 to 5 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock/NBC Sports app
Sunday, Dec. 8
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel/NBC Sports app
1:30 p.m. to 4:40 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock/NBC Sports app
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