Monday, December 11th, 2023 Edition
Lydia Ko, Jason Day claim Grant Thornton Invitational title
– by Jack Hirsh / GOLF
Per Jack: “This past season might have been one to forget for Lydia Ko, but when she, and her partner Jason Day needed her most, she came up clutch, in classic Ko form.”
B&B POV: Two of our favorite professional golfers, Jason Day from the PGA TOUR and Lydia Ko from the LPGA Tour, teamed up to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational over 15 other mixed pairs of professional golf’s best players. Oh Canada’s finest, Corey Conners and Brooke Henderson, finished 2nd, and let’s not kid ourselves, Henderson was outdriving Conners all weekend. After 54 holes, Day/Ko fired -26 and each won $500k and lifted matching Big-A’s. For the history buffs reading this, the last time the PGA/LPGA tours staged a mixed event was in 1999. Many participants in this year’s event weren’t even born before the turn of the century. We’re officially looking forward to watching the 2nd annual Grant Thornton next winter.
PGA Tour set for pivotal PIF meeting following latest investment decision
– by Dylan Dethier / GOLF
Per Dylan: “At last week’s Hero World Challenge, Tiger Woods expressed frustration with the slow speed of the PGA Tour’s investment decisions.
Things have certainly sped up…”‘
B&B POV: December 31st looms large as the deadline for the PGA TOUR and PIF to formalize a binding partnership is coming up fast. Both sides can agree to extend negotiations, which we think is the eventual outcome. Two key goings-on are surely impacting those negotiations: Rahm, World #3 and global golf superstar, formally joined LIV last week (WOW & WTF). And, the PGA TOUR has announced they are formalizing a financial partnership with an outside investment group named the “Strategic Sports Group.” In a memo sent to players on Sunday, the Tour described the group as a “consortium of U.S.-based professional sports team investors led by Fenway Sports Group.” This group is chock-full of some of the biggest individual investors in professional sports — teams named Celtics, Red Sox, Liverpool, Atlanta Falcons, and the Mets.
We surmise that no one, including the PGA TOUR, PIF, and the newbies to this game of professional golf Monopoly, SSG, knows what’s happening next in the prolonged negotiations. Like every other golf media blowhard, we will be anxiously flipping through Twitter X to learn of breaking news on the matter.
WITB Winner’s Bag: Lydia Ko and Jason Day, 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational
– by Thomas Hamden / Balls & Bogeys
Per Thomas: Jason Day’s and Lydia Ko’s gear set-ups had two things in common last week while paired up in the Grant Thornton — where they were victorious, picking up some good mojo leading into the last few weeks off before the PGA TOUR jumpstarts the 2024 season at Kapalua Jan. 4th in The Sentry Tournament of Champions. The LPGA Tour kicks off six weeks later on Jan. 18th in FL. with their version of the Tournament of Champions.
Back to the two things in common with the winning pair’s bag set-up: 1) They both teed it up with PING G430 LST drivers. 2) Like many of their peers, they both played with Vokey SM9 wedges, the #1 wedges on the PGA TOUR.
What else did we learn when looking into their bags?
Lydia ko’s Golf Gear:
DRIVER: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana GT 50 S shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: Ping G430 Max (15, 18 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana PD 60 S shafts
HYBRID: Ping G430 (22 degrees), with Graphite Design Tour AD HY 65 S shaft
IRONS: Ping i230 (5-7), Ping Blueprint S prototype (8-9), with AeroTech Steelfiber fc 70 shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 – ON SALE (46, 48, 54, 58 degrees), with AeroTech Steelfiber fc 70 shafts
PUTTER: Scotty Cameron TG6 prototype
BALL: Titleist Pro V1X
GRIPS: Golf Iomic
Jason Day’s Golf Gear:
DRIVER: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees), with TPT prototype shaft
FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees), TaylorMade Stealth (21 degrees), with Mitsubishi Kuro Kage Silver 80X shaft
IRONS: TaylorMade P770 (4), TaylorMade P7MC (5-PW), with KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ shafts
WEDGES: Titleist Vokey SM9 – ON SALE (52, 56, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts
PUTTER: TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider
BALL: Bridgestone Tour B X – ON SALE
GRIPS: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
FEATURED GOLF DEAL OF THE WEEK
Compliments of Orange Whip – Up to $20 Off!
PAYDAY! 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational 16 Teams Prize Money Payouts
– by Thomas Hamden / Balls & Bogeys
Per Thomas: Lydia Ko and Jason Day had themselves a week, winning the Grant Thornton Inv. at Tiburon GC in Naples, FL. Their take home, $500k each — which is far more money than LPGA Tour tourney winners traditionally take home for lifting Big-A’s. Heck, last of the pack, Cheyenne Knight and Tom Hoge, ran to the airport early Sunday, each with a $60k debit in their respective bank accounts…
2023 Grant Thornton Invitational 16 Teams Payouts:
Position Team Score Earnings
1 Lydia Ko / Jason Day -26 $1,000,000
2 Brooke Henderson / Corey Conners -25 $560,000
3 Madelene Sagstrom / Ludvig Aberg -24 $330,000
T-4 Megan Khang / Denny McCarthy -23 $232,500
Move over Ronaldo, Messi. Jon Rahm is highest paid athlete in 2023 after joining LIV Golf
– by Steven Henson / LA Times
Per Steve: “The obscene sums doled out by the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in its quest to lure the world’s top golfers to its LIV Golf tour reached a pinnacle when Jon Rahm joined the league this week…”
B&B POV: When the PGA TOUR announced they had entered into a “framework” agreement with LIV/PIF on June 6, 2023, we were shocked/disgusted/nauseous and wanted to punch Patrick Reed in his cherubic nose, and throw tomatoes at Lefty and the other LIV rebels, especially Poults, Westy and Bizarro (a few guys carry this nickname).
We are nearly as shocked and concerned for the PGA TOUR today with the news that Jon Rahm has joined LIV and is building his own team. At least he’s admitting his motivations are mostly driven by money. You really can’t blame the man. A $400-600M payday for flipping his professional golf loyalty is utterly unfathomable (the amount of money headed to his offshore accounts). But who’s next? Rumors are swirling around Big Tony and Tyrrell Hatton. Golf Magazine threw out Hovland as a potential LIV jumper.
So what’s happening next? At this point, LIV really does hold all the cards. And those cards are floating in the biggest vat of Willy Wonka crude oil known to man. Sad.
FEATURED CURATED LESSON
‘Hit Your Pitch Shots Like Jason Day w/ Butch Harmon’
Thanks to our friends at GOLFPASS * for posting this gem of a short-game lesson led by Butch Harmon and recent Grant Thornton co-champion, Jason Day.
FEATURED GIVEAWAY
WHEN YOU HAVE A MINUTE…
Things you just can’t make up. Don’t miss these random nuggets of gold we found on the interwebs. You’re welcome.