It was ultimately two-time LPGA Tour winner Lauren Coughlin who rolled in a birdie putt on the final hole at Tiburón Golf Club to secure a victory for herself and her teammate Andrew Novak in the third playing of the Grant Thornton Invitational.
The duo began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Charley Hull and Michael Brennan, and despite having to jockey for position a bit early on day three of the mixed-gender team event, Coughlin and Novak made five birdies in their closing six holes to emerge victorious in their debut as partners in Naples, Fla.
They got the party started with a birdie on the par-5 1st hole to immediately move to 20-under and picked up a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-3 5th and par-5 6th holes to climb to 22-under overall.
Then, trailing Jennifer Kupcho and Chris Gotterup by two strokes at the time, Coughlin and Novak notched their fourth birdie of the round on the par-4 10th hole to get to 23-under and move within one shot of the lead. The pair subsequently ripped off three straight birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to then hold a one-stroke lead over Kupcho and Gotterup with three holes remaining.
And when the chasing teams failed to mount any sort of spectacular late charge, it was ultimately Coughlin and Novak’s to win, something they did in impressive fashion, landing a one-two punch of birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to finish at 28-under and win by three strokes.
“I think again we kind of knew we had a lot of holes left, so we knew that we could make plenty of birdies coming in, we’ll have plenty of chances,” Coughlin said of the victory. “Andrew putted really great today, made a lot of birdies for us. It was a lot of fun.”
Novak was quick to credit his partner’s dependability as another major reason his team was able to close out the Grant Thornton Invitational as strongly as they did coming down to the wire.
“I had some pressure taken off of me, I think, coming down the stretch,” Novak said “Lauren is probably the single most reliable golfer I’ve ever played with. I knew no matter what, I was going to be hitting from the fairway. I had a little rough patch off the tee in the middle, but got it squared away on the back nine. We were able to ring off some birdies.”
Coughlin and Novak’s three-round total of 28-under set a new 54-hole tournament scoring record at the Grant Thornton Invitational, and the 9-under 63 the pair fired was tied for the second-lowest round of the day on Sunday, as three teams carded 62s in the modified fourball.
It’s Novak’s second win in a professional, Tour-sanctioned team event this year, as he took home the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with his playing partner Ben Griffin back in April. He joked in his and Coughlin’s post-round interview on Saturday that “some are calling it the modern-day Grand Slam, (winning the) Zurich, Grant Thornton,” as the pair then led by one stroke with 18 holes still to play.
And while Novak was reluctant to double down on the joke after securing victory alongside Coughlin at Tiburón, the 30-year-old was more than happy to be hoisting another team-event trophy on Sunday afternoon.
“Look, any win is good. I’ll take it,” Novak said. “I wasn’t thinking about it too much out there. I had birdies to go make. But it is pretty cool, and it’s a nice cap to a good season.”
Coughlin collected two LPGA Tour titles in 2024, becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner at the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada and then picking up her second career victory just a couple of weeks later at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. And while the Grant Thornton Invitational doesn’t count as an official LPGA Tour win, it’s certainly a great sendoff into the offseason for the Virginia native, a break from competition Coughlin is very much looking forward to.
“I stayed in playing shape for a few more weeks than I probably would have otherwise, but it’s nice to know that I can get my game back in a couple weeks off to get ready for this week,” Coughlin said. “But I’m really excited to take some time off for the holidays and stay home as much as possible.”
Kupcho and Gotterup finished in a tie for second alongside Charley Hull and Michael Brennan, and the Nelly Korda and Denny McCarthy team. Korda will be making one more start this season, as she is teeing it up alongside her father, Petr, at the PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. before the holidays, another partner-play event in which the 27-year-old is excited to compete.
“I’m playing with my dad next week, so that’s always so much fun,” Korda said. “The memories that you create there playing alongside your dad is – I mean, those are core memories that you share forever. To see his competitive spirits come back and be alive during that one week is a lot of fun.”
Defending champions Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp came in ninth at 21-under overall, while 2023 Grant Thornton Invitational winners Lydia Ko and Jason Day tied for 13th after finishing with a three-day total of 17-under at Tiburón Golf Club.
