Kevin Cunningham
Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images
When to Grant Thornton Invitation starts Friday morning in Florida, world no Nelly Korda there will be a last minute replacement teammate.
The PGA Tour released a statement Wednesday evening announcing it Tony’s controversyKorda’s initial partner for the mixed tag team event was forced to withdraw from the event less than 48 hours before it was due to start due to recovering from an injury.
Finau also withdrew late from last week’s World Hero Challenge, which inspired wild speculation that he was leaving the PGA Tour to sign with LIV Golf, rumors he eventually dismissed, revealing that he had recently an operation on the left knee.
Perhaps to prevent more rumours, the PGA Tour announcement included a statement from Finau explaining his decision to withdraw due to his ongoing recovery from his knee injury. Finau also noted that “playing with Nelly (Korda) in 2023 was one of the highlights of my year,” and thanked him for understanding why he had to retire.
He ended on a note saying he’s looking forward to “getting back into competition in the new year.”
You can read Finau’s statement in full below.
“I am disappointed to have to withdraw from the Grant Thornton Invitational as I continue to recover from my knee injury. Playing with Nelly in 2023 was one of the highlights of my year. I look forward to cheering her on this week and am grateful for her support and understanding as I work to get fully healthy. I am grateful to my partner at Grant Thornton for their support and for diversifying our game by bringing the PGA Tour and LPGA together in Naples. I can’t wait to get back to racing in the new year.”
Korda and Finau finished T4 at the inaugural Grant Thornton last year with a total score of 23 under, three shy of the winning score of Lydia Ko and Jason Day.
PGA Tour veteran Daniel Berger will take Finau’s place as Korda’s teammate.
“>
Kevin Cunningham
Editor of Golf.com
As managing producer for GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com and manages the brand’s e-newsletters, which reach more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A former two-time intern, he also helps make GOLF.com sound outside of the stories and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the technology team on developing new products and innovative ways to deliver engaging engagement. site for our audience.