NAPLES, Fla. — Charley Hull tried to convince her teammate, Michael Brennan, to hit what sounded like an impossible shot from the pine straw on the 17th hole at Tiburón Golf Club during Saturday’s second round at the Grant Thornton Invitational. Brennan, however, wasn’t convinced by Hull’s aggressive proposal.

“(Charley) hit it in the right pine straw, and I never even looked at anything other than just kind of a pitch back out in the fairway,” Brennan explained with a grin on his face. “We kind of left each other alone when we were hitting our normal shots because that's what we normally do, but she came up to me, she's like, ‘Look, you can actually go hit like a high hook out of the pine straw between trees over water,’ and I kiboshed that.”

The moment was a microcosm of Hull and Brennan’s partnership this week in Naples, Fla., showcasing the blend of fire and ice that explains the duo’s success through two rounds of the mixed-gender team event.

The squad, whose team name is the Gym Bros, held the first-round co-lead alongside major champions Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark after firing a red-hot 17-under 55 in the opening-day scramble, an early effort that saw Hull and Brennan card three pars, 13 birdies and two eagles on the par-5 6th and par-5 14th holes at Tiburón Golf Club.

Saturday’s alternate shot proved to be a bit trickier for the English-American duo, with Hull and Brennan barely managing to eke out a 1-under 71 in what can be an incredibly challenging format. The pair made three bogeys and four birdies throughout their second round, two of which came back-to-back on the par-5 14th and par-4 15th holes.

They will begin round three alone in second place at 18-under overall, just one stroke behind Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak, a chasing position that has both Hull and Brennan raring to go as they try to win the third edition of the Grant Thornton Invitational.

“I like stalking someone down,” Hull said with a glint in her eye. “I like the chase idea. I'm not too sure what Michael's like. Obviously, it would have been nice going into the lead going into the final round, but we can make plenty of birdies out there tomorrow.”

This is Hull’s second time competing in the Grant Thornton Invitational, as she teed it up in the inaugural playing in 2023 alongside her fellow countryman and Olympic medalist Justin Rose, but it’s Brennan’s first time being tapped to participate, as he was a late add to the field following a withdrawal from Daniel Berger earlier this week.

But despite their inexperience with one another, the Gym Bros have appeared to form a fast friendship and fruitful partnership that just might propel them to the winner’s circle on Sunday at Tiburón Golf Club. And with the modified fourball format now on deck and alternate shot behind them, Hull and Brennan are hopeful to capitalize on having two balls in play in round three as they look to card a round deep in the red and race into the first-place spot on the Sunday leaderboard.

“Going into tomorrow, it's a completely different format. It's more like your normal game,” Hull said. “Obviously, we're playing their tee shots, and they're playing ours, but I feel like we are playing pretty well and just looking forward to going out there and being able to play the whole golf course out there tomorrow, I'm sure the same as you, and we can just make birdies.”

Charley Hull, Michael Brennan Lurking One Shot Behind Leaders at Grant Thornton Invitational

Related Articles