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Charley Hull thought her prep for the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational was finally settling into place, until plans shifted most abruptly. Just days before the mixed-team event begins in Naples, Hull learned she’d be heading to Tiburón Golf Club with someone other than her expected partner.

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Hull was initially paired with four-time PGA Tour winner Daniel Berger for the event, set to take place from December 12th to 14th for its third edition, where 16 mixed teams will battle it out over three rounds. But as per a recent update posted by the PGA Tour Communications on X, Berger has withdrawn and is replaced by Michael Brennan.

It’s a last-minute switch no one saw coming, but luckily, Hull has some time to practice with Brennan, as Monday and Tuesday are the official practice days, before the event kicks off on Friday. But Berger’s sudden exit could be attributed to what happened earlier this year.

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Berger suffered a lingering finger injury at the 2025 BMW Championship in August. He “fractured his right ring finger while hitting a greenside bunker shot on the 14th hole of his third round,” and although he finished that day’s round, he withdrew before Sunday. The setback knocked him out of the Tour Championship and kept him off the course for months.

“It was like the best-case scenario for that stuff to happen; obviously, you don’t want anything to happen, but, I mean, like, what if that had happened in April?” he told the PGA Tour. After seven weeks of rest and only returning to hitting balls in early November, he admitted two weeks ago that he still won’t have full strength for another three months.

While he played the RSM Classic and finished tied for 51st, he only played because he “didn’t want to take four months off.” This is probably the most likely reason why he withdrew this week from Naples, but there’s no official update from him or his team as to why.

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Meanwhile, Charley Hull will have to make some last-minute adjustments, as she will be paired with Michael Brennan. But Brennan is a pretty credible player, too, just like Berger, as he earned his first victory on the PGA Tour this year at the Bank of Utah Championship. In fact, it was his first victory on the PGA Tour in just three starts, making him only the seventh player since 1970 to do this. Before the victory, he was in line to play the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season with fully exempt status by virtue of earning the Three-Victory Promotion.

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While Hull’s pairing is now confirmed with a player who’s clearly on the rise, let’s look at the several other teams lining up for the Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples this week.

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Other pairings at the 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational

The 2025 Grant Thornton Invitational will see 16 mixed teams competing for an equal $4 million purse this weekend, and this year’s pairings are strong across the board. The field combines 137 PGA and LPGA career victories, including nine wins from 2025 alone. Ten major champions are teeing it up, among them Sweden’s Maja Stark, the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open champion.

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Defending champions Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp are returning this week with solid form. Tavatanakit recorded three top-10 finishes this season, including a T7 at the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburón, while Knapp posted three top-five results on the PGA Tour. The Korda sisters are also headlining the field.

Nelly Korda, who earned nine top-10s in 19 starts this year, is paired with Denny McCarthy. At the same time, Jessica Korda, who hasn’t played an event since becoming a mother, will make her tournament debut alongside Bud Cauley, who enjoyed a strong comeback season on the PGA Tour.

Other notable teams include Lydia Ko and Jason Day, as well as Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark, adding even more depth to an already competitive lineup. With three formats spread over three days—Scramble, Foursomes, and Modified Four-Ball—these pairings will have plenty of chances to show how strong their pairings are.

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