NAPLES — Rickie Fowler made it sound simple.
Fowler and his partner in this week’s Grant Thornton Invitational, Lexi Thompson, were asked what can men and women learn from each other while paired this weekend at Tiburon Golf Club.
Fowler, from Jupiter, praised the women for how easy they make it look.
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“Sometimes watching some of the women play and how simple it can look … for the most part they hit it very straight,” he said. “It looks simple, knock it on the green, you make a putt here or there and add them up at the end.
“I think the guys make it a little bit more interesting at times maybe playing from different areas. Hopefully I can keep that a little tighter this week so I don’t put my partner in some interesting spots.”
Thompson, the Delray Beach resident who is retiring from a full-time LPGA Tour schedule, looked amused.
“I hope I live up to what you’re saying,” she said.
“I have high hopes,” Fowler answered.
Several power couples at Grant Thornton
Fowler and Thompson return as one of the power couples at the 36-hole Grant Thornton, which starts Friday. World No. 1 Nelly Korda now will play with Jupiter’s Daniel Berger, who replaced Tony Finau. Finau withdrew Wednesday citing knee issues.
Other marquee pairings among the 16 teams include defending champions world No. 3 Lydia Ko and Jason Day, 2023 runners-up Brooke Henderson and Jupiter’s Corey Connors, and Rose Zhang and Sahith Theegala.
The 2023 Grant Thornton was the first co-sanctioned mixed-team event in more than two decades involving players from the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour.
“To be part of the team events is always different and exciting, but also to play alongside the guys, it’s a learning process,” Thompson said. “You learn a lot, but you have a good time as well.
“Golf needs more events like this.”
Fowler and Thompson tied for sixth last year, shooting 22-under for the 36-hole event. The format is scramble, alternate shot and modified four-ball.
Jeeno Thitikul, a native of Thailand, won the LPGA’s season-finale CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon last month and pocketed $4 million, the largest first-place prize in women’s golf. She is playing with South Korean Tom Kim. Both are in the Grant Thornton field for the first time.
Kim believes there’s “so many little things” women golfers do better than men despite men generally having a physical advantage that allows them to hit it farther.
“I think this week will be really cool to be inside the ropes and kind of competition pressure to be able to see those things,” Kim said.
Thitikul, ranked No. 5 in the world, agrees with Fowler that women hit it straight more often, but she believes lessons can be learned from the way men hit the ball.
“Shaping shots is the one that the women have to learn more from the men,” Thjitikul said. “We usually hit it straight and then just keeping on a track.”
Thompson agrees: “It’s a whole different speed the guys put on the golf ball and certain curves that I don’t think girls can do, but maybe don’t think about it as much,” she said. “It’s just cool to see all the different kinds of shots that they can hit and learn from them.”
Lexi Thompson hole-in-one highlight in 2023
Thompson hit the perfect shot with just the right speed last year at the Grant Thornton when she aced the par-3 16th hole from 155 yards with a 7-iron.
“Making the hole-in-one, looking back at that video, that was a fun experience to be able to do it as part of the team format, especially alternate shot,” Thompson said. “It was just an amazing week.
“Like Rickie said, golf needs more events like this. It’s different and it as a lot more fun and enjoyable to be alongside the guys.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Rickie Fowler says Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda make golf look simple
