With the LIV Tour gaining some momentum, the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour have joined forces and announced on Thursday the formation of a unique mixed team event according to Reuters Media. There will be 32 players in the field, 16 players from the PGA Tour and 16 players from the LPGA Tour. On the surface, this is the latest attempt by the PGA Tour to generate interest in their overall product, and they deserve praise for bringing the LPGA alongside.
According to Josh Gold-Smith of The Score, the mixed team event will be called the Grant Thornton invitational and take place at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida. The winners of the tournament will receive equal prize money.
This is not the first time that men’s golf tours and women’s golf tours have combined forces in forming a mixed gender event. The Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome took place from 1960 to 1966, the Pepsi Cola Mixed Team Championship took place in 1976 and 1977, and the JC Penney Classic took place from 1978 to 1999.
Among the teams that won the JC Penney Classic include Curtis Strange and Nancy Lopez (1980), Tom Kite and Beth Daniel (1981), John Mahaffey and JoAnne Carner (1982), Fred Couples and Jan Stephenson (1983), Davis Love III and Daniel (1990 and 1995), and John Daly and Laura Davies (1999). The aforementioned teams listed in the previous sentence were golf teams with a major champion in the past in men’s golf and women’s golf. Stephenson and Davies are the only non-Americans on the list. Stephenson of Sydney, Australia won the 1981 duMaurier Classic, the 1982 LPGA Championship and the 1983 United States Women’s Open. Davies of Coventry, England won the 1987 United States Women’s Open, the 1994 and 1996 LPGA Championship, and 1996 duMaurier Classic.
Will you watch? Due to the fact the event will be part of the challenge season according to Gold-Smith, and not part of the PGA or LPGA Tour with world ranking points up for grabs, I will probably give this event a miss.
Will you watch? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
