Steve Palmer's Grant Thornton Invitational predictions and free golf betting tips

When to bet 

By 2.10pm on Friday

Where to watch the Grant Thornton Invitational

Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 6pm on Friday

Steve Palmer's Grant Thornton Invitational predictions

Ludvig Aberg & Madeline Sagstrom
5pts each-way 7-1 Coral, Ladbrokes

Tony Finau & Nelly Korda
5pts each-way 13-2 Coral, Ladbrokes

The inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational has essentially replaced the QBE Shootout on the golfing calendar, providing a high-class mixed pairs event at Tiburon Golf Club, Florida.

Annika Sorenstam, Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda have played in the QBE Shootout before, but that competition was almost entirely filled with men. The switch to a fully mixed event has breathed new life into this end-of-season gathering and the format has been revised as well.

Steve Palmer's top tip

Ludvig Aberg & Madeline Sagstrom 7-1

The all-Swedish alliance of Ludvig Aberg and Madeline Sagstrom could be extremely difficult to beat in the Grant Thornton Invitational. They know each other well – as do their caddies – and group harmony seems sure to aid their challenge.Aberg's caddie, Jack Clarke, is Sagstrom's fiance. With so much strategy involved in this tournament, it is a significant advantage that the Swedes will be so comfortable and so open with each other.

Aberg has quickly shown he has the potential to become the best player in the world – and it is difficult to argue that he is not the best player in attendance at Tiburon this week. He recently gained pairs experience in the Ryder Cup – the most high-pressure team event in golf – and handled the occasion superbly.

The Grant Thornton will feel like a walk in the park for Aberg in comparison to the Ryder Cup – and his partner has also got big-time experience. Sagstrom has played in three Solheim Cups, including the last one. She was thrilled with how many bogey-free rounds she was carding in the Solheim build-up, becoming more consistent at the age of 31.

Sagstrom is based in Florida and her only LPGA Tour title came in the Sunshine State. She has shown a liking for Tiburon in the CME Group Tour Championship, with form figures of 13-22-13-16 from the last four editions. She has carded no over-par rounds in that period – 16 Tiburon spins of par or better – and can be relied upon to not make many mistakes this week.

If Sagstrom can keep things neat and tidy at Tiburon again, the brilliance of Aberg can push their team to Grant Thornton glory.

Next best bet

Tony Finau & Nelly Korda 13-2

The format changes make the weaker pairings even less appealing than they were in the QBE Shootout. There is no hiding place over the weekend now – no margin for error on the Saturday and both players needs to produce some great golf on the Sunday.

The top two teams in the betting may end up dominating this event – their class proving decisive over the final 36 holes. Tony Finau and Nelly Korda can keep pace with Aberg and Sagstrom – and it would be a shock should neither side prevail.

Finau was a pretty regular starter in the QBE Shootout and knows Tiburon well. He also has experience of having a female partner, with Lexi Thompson alongside in both 2017 and 2018. The Finau-Thompson combo finished fourth in in 2017 and seventh in 2018. The manful efforts of Finau in these editions were highlighted when Thompson partnered Sean O'Hair in the 2019 QBE and they finished last.

Finau will probably not need to do as much heavy lifting with fellow Grant Thornton Ambassador Korda as his partner. She finished fifth in last year's QBE, pairing with Denny McCarthy, and her Tiburon form figures in the CME Group Tour Championship are 8-2-3-19-5-10-8.

Korda is one of the best female players in history, while Finau bounced back to form with fourth place in the Hero World Challenge last week. They look a match made in heaven for the Grant Thornton. Each-way terms of a fifth the odds, the first four places are generally available.

Tiburon course guide

Course Gold Course, Tiburon Golf Club, Naples, Florida
Prize money $4m ($720,000 each to the winning team)
Lengths Men's tees 7,382 yards Women's tees 6,595 yards
Par 72 – four par-fives; ten par-fours; four par-threes
Field 16 teams of two (no cut)
Highest-ranked men's players in field (world ranking in brackets) Jason Day (19), Tony Finau (21), Rickie Fowler (24), Russell Henley (25), Lucas Glover (30)
Highest-ranked women's players in field (world ranking in brackets) Lilia Vu (1), Ruoning Yin (2), Celine Boutier (3), Nelly Korda (4), Charley Hull (8)
Course records - 54 holes (QBE Shootout format) 179 Harris English & Matt Kuchar (2020); 18 holes 55 Greg Norman & Steve Elkington (2005), Jason Day & Cameron Tringale (2014), Ryan Palmer & Harold Varner (2019)

When to bet By 2.10pm on Friday

When to watch Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Golf from 6pm on Friday

Time difference Naples is five hours behind the UK and Ireland

Last week – Hero World Challenge 1 S Scheffler (5-1), 2 S Straka (33-1), 3 J Thomas (16-1), T4 T Finau (22-1), M Fitzpatrick (18-1)

Course type Parkland

Course overview The Grant Thornton Invitational has replaced the QBE Shootout. The Shootout moved to Tiburon in 2001 and remained there until last year. Tiburon hosts the Grant Thornton mixed pairs event from now on. There is no rough at Tiburon and the fairways are generous, but plenty of water is waiting to punish the seriously errant. The course hosts the CME Group Tour Championship on the LPGA Tour. The GTI format is different to that used for the QBE

Format Friday Scramble (both players hit, best ball chosen after every shot) Saturday Foursomes (alternate shot) Sunday Modified fourball (both players tee off, then switch balls for their second shots and play that ball until holed, only best score counts)

Story of last year Tom Hoge and Sahith Theegala won the final QBE Shootout, edging Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer by a shot

Weather forecast Sunny and warm, with gentle breezes, but a thunder threat for Sunday

Type of player suited to the challenge Aggressive golf and hot putters have traditionally been the keys to success in this event, but a pure foursomes format has replaced the old Saturday greensomes, so there is no margin for error in round two. All-round quality is required and weak links will be exposed over the final two days

Key attribute Touch

Spotlight insight 

Twenty of the last 24 editions of the Shootout were won by an all-American duo

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