Jeeno Thitikul, Tom Kim, Nelly Korda and Daniel Berger at the Grant Thornton Invitational
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Hello friends and happy Saturday night from Naples, Florida! I am writing to you all from my hotel where dozens of 11 and 12 year old boys are on some kind of field trip. I’m lucky enough to be in the room they chose to gather everyone out as soccer balls bounce up and down the hall. There was one LOT of very sudden rain in Grant Thornton Invitation on Saturday, but that didn’t stop the teams in Tiburon from having a blast. The two that stuck out to me the most on Saturday were the team of Nelly Korda and Daniel Berger and the team of Tom Kim and Jeeno Thitikul.
Team Korda and Berger
I would title this segment of the Rogers Report with Nelly Korda AND Daniel Berger’s Official team name here at Grant Thornton Invitationbut this year they are keeping it to themselves.
I respect that! I can only assume it’s something funny. We may not have gotten their team name, but we did get a lot of fun information about the two of them during their post-round interview on Saturday. Korda and Berger spoke highly of each other’s games, with Korda even joking that she will play her partner on the PGA Tour app.
That might be the ultimate compliment, although I’d probably be a little nervous knowing that the world No. 1 is checking my results. I was tempted to ask Korda what other players she’s played on the PGA Tour app, but decided to ask what she and Berger have learned about each other this week.
Korda immediately announced that Berger had “tweeted to warm up”. She went on to explain that she didn’t hit a shot for 30 minutes before her tee time and that Berger was surprised by this. Hey, Korda won seven times this year, so I’d say the results speak for themselves. She might be on to something.
We also learned that Korda likes to walk dogs and that Berger is on a journey to 185 pounds, so he’s crushing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the course. I’m not too intrigued by dog travel, as I don’t think it’s crossed my mind since I did a Balto project in elementary school.
Tom Kim and Jeeno Thitikul
There’s only one team on the field that has coordinated outfits all week at the Grant Thornton Invitational, and that’s Tom Kim and Jeeno Thitikul. According to Thitikul, she got to choose what color they would wear on Friday and Saturday, and Kim got to pick for the final round.
Watching them play golf reminded me of my high school golf days (although admittedly, this one is at a much, much higher level). They were having so much fun out there and it’s clear that they are great friends. Made me miss team golf!
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Do yourself a favor and check out these moments from their post-round interview.
Some highlights include Thitikul explaining that she was trying to get in touch with Kim last week so they could coordinate their outfits, but it turns out she had the wrong number. I’ve also heard Kim’s caddy, Paul Tesori, refer to Thitikuli as “Jeeno Woods,” so I asked for an explanation of that nickname.
“We were putting Jeeno Scheffler or Jeeno Woods and obviously with 82 wins and 15 majors, she played like Tiger Woods today,” Kim said. That is high praise!
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Grant Thornton’s invitation may end today, but don’t worry, my friends. We have another team event next week at the PNC Championship, where I’ll be on the field and ready to write about Team Woods, Team Korda and more.
