Steve Palmer's Grant Thornton Invitational final-round golf betting tips and predictions

Where to watch the Grant Thornton Invitational

Sky Sports Golf, 6pm Sunday

Best bets

L Thompson & R Fowler to win 3.20pm match
2pts Evens bet365, BoyleSports

R Zhang & S Theegala to win 2.20pm match
2pts 20-21 bet365

N Korda & T Finau to beat L Ko & J Day straight forecast
1pt 6-1 bet365

L Ko & J Day to beat N Korda & T Finau straight forecast
1pt 15-4 bet365

Story so far

The inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational has been a massive success, with at least seven teams still in with a realistic chance of victory at Tiburon Golf Club, Florida.

Lydia Ko and Jason Day conjured an incredible foursomes round of 66 to propel themselves to the top of the leaderboard on Saturday. The New Zealander and the Australian are two shots ahead, shortening from a pre-tournament 12-1 to a best-price 6-4 with 18 holes to play.

Ante-post 13-2 favourites, Nelly Korda and Tony Finau, are tied for second place. The American duo bogeyed the final hole of the foursomes, joining Leona Maguire and Lucas Glover on 18 under par. Four teams are tied for fourth place, four shots off the pace.

The final round is played under a 'modified fourballs' format. That means both players in a pairing play a tee-shot, then they switch balls for the remainder of the hole. The final group of Ko and Day and Korda and Finau are scheduled to tee off at 3.35pm UK and Ireland time. A sunny, warm day, with light to moderate breeze is forecast.

Grant Thornton Invitational leaderboard

-20 Lydia Ko & Jason Day
-18 Nelly Korda & Tony Finau, Leona Maguire & Lucas Glover
-16 Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler, Brooke Henderson & Corey Conners, Ruoning Yin & Nick Taylor, Megan Khang & Denny McCarthy

Best odds for the Grant Thornton Invitational

6-4 Ko & Day, 3 Korda & Finau, 5 Maguire & Glover, 14 Thompson & Fowler, Henderson & Conners, Khang & McCarthy, 16 Yin & Taylor, 66 bar

Grant Thornton Invitational final-round predictions

Ludvig Aberg put a new set of clubs in his bag this week, having just put pen to paper on a multi-year deal with Titleist, and the Swede has failed to sparkle in Florida. Nelly Korda and Tony Finau have a six-shot advantage over Aberg and Madeline Sagstrom, but Lydia Ko and Jason Day have become the biggest problem for the American dream team.

Ko and Day – both former world number ones – have formed an excellent alliance in Florida. Ko was so nervous about pairing up with Day that she insisted they arrive early at Tiburon to practice together, so she could get used to partnering one of her idols, and that preparation has paid off in spades.

Ko has been superb over the first 36 holes, but it remains to be seen whether she can hold herself together down the stretch. Day loaded pressure on Ko when waxing lyrical about her supposedly rock-solid short-game in their post Saturday round interview. A clearly keyed-up Ko may struggle to deliver in a tight finish.

Korda and Finau left Tiburon fuming with making a bogey after a great drive at the 18th hole of the foursomes, but they still look the pair to beat from two shots behind. Fourballs golf should loosen up these two free-flowing talents.

Tactics will be crucial on the final day, with the 'modified fourballs' format in operation for the first time in a high-class event. Most teams seem likely to play their tee shots at the par-fours and par-fives with their partner's favoured type of ball, leaving their partner more comfortable for the rest of the hole (after the switch).

Finau uses a Titleist Pro V1 Left Dot – a low-spinning ball which provides a lower, more penetrating ball flight than most – so the key to the success of this pairing may be whether Korda can get this ball in play. Korda used a Titleist Pro V1 for most of her career, before switching to a TaylorMade TP5 in May this year, so the Florida-based 25-year-old should be up to the mission.

Korda and Finau, Racing Post Sport pre-tournament recommendations at 13-2, can be fancied to reel in Ko and Day. A tight finish could be on the cards.

Bet365 still have straight forecast betting available, with the Finau team to beat the Day team, and vice versa, appealing at 6-1 and 15-4 respectively.

Lexi Thompson, buoyed by making a hole-in-one in the foursomes, can team up with Rickie Fowler to win the 3.20pm (UK and Ireland time) match against Leona Maguire and Lucas Glover. Thompson and Fowler should have more birdies in them in this format, with Glover's putting issues resurfacing this week.

Foursomes golf was always going to test Rose Zhang and Sahith Theegala, but this dynamic duo can get on the front foot again in the fourballs, leaving Lilia Vu and Joel Dahmen behind (2.20pm).

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