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On Sunday, Dec. 14, Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak came out on top in a low-scoring Grant Thornton Invitational. Here’s how the week shook out for the winners and the other top teams.
(Editor’s note: This is the last Golf Thursday of 2025. The IX Sports is off Dec. 25–31 and will return with Golf Thursday on Jan. 1, 2026.)
In their first appearance as a team, Coughlin and Novak put up an impressive 57 (-15) in the first round’s scramble format. They were able to combine their pinpoint iron shots with consistent putting to put up 15 birdies and go bogey-free.
“I was able to kind of keep us in the fairway and he [Novak] was able to kind of just hit away if he needed to,” Coughlin said in a post-round press conference on Friday, Dec. 12. “Yeah, I think we just—like I said, we just ham-and-egged it really good. I feel like we’re really similar players, we don’t hit it super far but we hit it really straight, especially our irons. We both putted really well.”
Coughlin and Novak went into the second round in third place, two shots behind Charley Hull and Michael Brennan and Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark. Each of those teams posted 55s (-17), setting new tournament scoring records for the scramble format. All eyes were on Hull/Brennan and Thompson/Clark, which probably gave Coughlin and Novak some room to breathe.
After round two’s foursomes format, Coughlin and Novak saw themselves climb to the top of the Grant Thornton leaderboard to 19-under-par. They carded the second-best alternate shot score of the day with a 68. Coughlin and Novak overcame some back-nine struggles, including having to recover from a hybrid in the water on No. 14. A Coughlin hole-out eagle on No. 17 had them rejoicing, though.
“[I] said my bad. I wish I could have that shot back, but I was able to kind of hang in there and we made some really good shots coming in,” Coughlin said of her mishap with the hybrid on hole 14.
But that’s the nature of team golf. You don’t say you’re sorry; you move on to the next shot, the next hole. Your partner is inevitably going to have to pick up some of your slack, and you’re inevitably going to do the same. Coughlin and Novak seemed to have that routine down, and they kept that momentum through the final round.
Only one stroke separated Coughlin and Novak from Hull and Brennan (-18) at the top of the leaderboard. One stroke further separated Hull and Brennan from Thompson and Clark (-17). A host of four teams sat at 16-under-par, tied for fourth place after Saturday’s foursomes round.
In the modified four-ball final round, Coughlin and Novak kept their games sharp and posted a 9-under-par 63 to jump to 28-under-par for the tournament. This round was another bogey-free round for Coughlin and Novak, with nine birdies leading their consistent play. Hull and Brennan just couldn’t catch them, and even Jennifer Kupcho and Chris Gotterup’s late-stage push wasn’t enough. Coughlin and Novak were rolling, and they took the title with ease.
A self-proclaimed team golf connoisseur, Novak was very happy to contribute to another team win, this time with Coughlin as his new partner.
“I mean, it was definitely a joke, but it is kind of funny looking back. I won Zurich, I won the Pebble Beach, the pro-am section with my teammate in that as well,” Novak said in a post-win press conference on Dec. 14. “Look, any win is good, I’ll take that. 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.”
Each team enjoyed the Grant Thornton Invitational to round out the season, and I know I did, too. The sentiment from each player was “We didn’t really know each other very much before, but now we do.” That’s always a good thing for the game of golf; when you can drive the women’s and men’s games together in fun and competitive ways, golf really thrives. They’re all players with the same goal; they want to win each week.
Happy holidays, golf fans! See you in 2026.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
Lydia Ko returns to defend title at 2026 HSBC Women’s World Championship
Look back at the 22 holes-in-one that were made during the 2025 LPGA Tour season
Inbee Park and Caroline Huyskes elected to International Golf Federation Board
Lauren Coughlin, Andrew Novak win third edition of Grant Thornton Invitational
Rose Zhang, Michael Kim zip up leaderboard early at Grant Thornton Invitational
Thompson and Clark’s late surge catch record 55 of Brennan and Hull at Grant Thornton Invitational
Jessica Korda returns to competition at Grant Thornton Invitational
Want more women’s hockey content? Subscribe to The Ice Garden!
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The staff of The Ice Garden has paved the way for women’s hockey coverage from the college ranks to international competitions. Of course, that includes in-depth coverage of the PWHL too.
LET News
Final qualifying for Lalla Aicha Q-School reduced to 72 holes with play suspended for the day
Grace Kim confirmed for 2026 Women’s Australian Open
LET announces its global 2026 schedule spanning five continents
Lalla Aicha Q-School: 10 players to watch at Final Qualifying
Resurgent Grinberg flying the flag for Brazil at LET Q-School
Key facts about Final Qualifying for 2025 Lalla Aicha Q-School
Lalla Aicha Q-School: 90 players make it through to final stage
Cheenglab named Player of the Month for November
Epson Tour News
Epson Tour releases 2026 tournament lineup
Epson Tour athletes earn, improve LPGA Tour status at LPGA Q-Series Final Qualifying
Emma McMyler puts together back nine of her career to earn LPGA Tour card
Five at The IX: Quotes from Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak’s winning press conference after the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples, Fla.
MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the champions of the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational, Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak.
Congrats to you both. Can we just open it up with what it was like going down the stretch and getting this win today?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, 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. Andrew putted really great today, made a lot of birdies for us. So yeah, it was a lot of fun.
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I had some pressure taken off of me I think, coming down the stretch. Lauren’s 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. So I had a little rough patch off the tee in the middle, but kind of got it squared away on the back nine. Yeah, we were able to ring off some birdies.
Q. Yesterday, you called this the modern grand slam of team events. How much of that were you thinking about heading into the final round?
ANDREW NOVAK: A little bit. I mean, it was definitely a joke, but it is kind of funny looking back. I won Zurich, I won the Pebble Beach, the pro-am section with my teammate in that as well. Look, any win is good, I’ll take that. 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.
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Q. What was the favorite moment on the golf course this week and what was the favorite moment off the golf course this week?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think probably holing out from the bunker yesterday for me was probably my highlight.
Off the course, I mean, it’s just fun being here. Everything off the course, getting to hang out with Andrew, his caddie Jeff, my caddie Greg, it was a lot of fun.
ANDREW NOVAK: On the course, I think the highlight of the week was the bunker hole-out for sure. That was really nice to just turn to the side and hand my caddie the putter and not have to worry about that hole anymore.
Off the course, just having my family here. My wife is here, our baby, our first time traveling with her to a tournament. We didn’t really know how it was going to go. She slept through the night basically every night. I wasn’t really waking up, it was amazing. Yeah, it really went better than we could have expected.
Q. Can you each just speak to the significance of this event and the significance of the partnership between the LPGA and PGA TOURs and growing the game as a whole?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: I think it’s great visibility for the LPGA to be able to partner with the PGA TOUR and to get to play with some of the best players in the world on the men’s side. It’s just super fun getting to meet some of the guys that I probably wouldn’t have gotten to meet. It’s really, really cool.
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, I didn’t really know many of the girls at all. I hadn’t met hardly any of them before this week. It was cool to get to meet them, see their games, watch them play, watch them work. Obviously, coming away very, very impressed with how good they are.
But yeah, it’s something that otherwise I haven’t really been able to do. They’re playing their schedule, we’re playing our schedule, we don’t get to see them much.
Q. I know the PGA TOUR’s been on a little bit of a break, but with the LPGA just kind of wrapping up, what does this do to propel you guys into an offseason and then looking ahead to ’26?
LAUREN COUGHLIN: Yeah, I stayed kind of in playing shape for a few more weeks than I probably would have otherwise, but it’s kind of nice to know that I can kind of get my game back in a couple weeks off to get ready for this week.
But I’m really excited to kind of take some time off for the holidays and stay home as much as possible.
ANDREW NOVAK: Yeah, my schedule was a little funky with ending at East Lake, and then with my wife having the baby, I basically ended up taking two and a half months off. I was working on my game a good bit during that time, but it was going to be a long stretch of golf before starting next season. So it was really nice to have RSM, Hero and this as kind of a little three week see where my game’s at, try to figure out what else I might need to work on for this last month before I start the 2026 season.
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