The 2022 QBE Shootout has announced the 12 two-person teams that will compete at this year’s tournament, set for Dec. 7-11 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
For the first time in the QBE’s 34-year history, two LPGA golfers will be competing: Nelly Korda, the world’s No. 1 ranked player will make her QBE debut, and No. 7 ranked Lexi Thompson will return for her seventh tournament.
Here’s a closer look at the 12 teams who will compete for the $3.8 million purse.
Harris English and Matt Kuchar
English and Kuchar, three-time QBE Shootout winners, will partner for the eighth time. The most successful pairing in tournament history, this team has also recorded two runner-up finishes (2014, 2015). The duo holds the tournament record for the largest margin of victory, nine strokes in 2020.
Max Homa and Kevin Kisner
Homa and Kisner finished fifth at last year’s Shootout in their first pairing. Kisner will be playing in his sixth QBE and finished fourth in 2016 when partnered with Kevin Chappell. Homa won three times on Tour in the past calendar year, including a successful defense of his 2021 Fortinet Championship this fall. Both were members of this year’s victorious U.S. team in the Presidents Cup, with Homa going 4-0 in his debut.
Nelly Korda and Denny McCarthy
Korda (age 24) and McCarthy (29) will be the youngest team in this year’s field and are both making their Shootout debuts. The last time a rookie team won the QBE Shootout was Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele in 2011. Korda and McCarthy have combined for a dozen top 10 finishes this calendar year, with Korda notching seven and McCarthy five.
Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings
Mullinax will be making his Shootout debut. This will be Stallings’ second appearance and first since 2011. Mullinax won the Barbasol Championship this summer for his first PGA Tour win. Stallings has seven top-10 finishes this past season, including a runner-up in the FedEx Cup playoffs BMW Championship.
Brian Harman and Sepp Straka
Harman, who teamed with Patton Kizzire to win the QBE in 2018, will be making his fifth appearance at Tiburon with his fourth different partner. Straka secured his first PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic earlier this year. Born in Austria, he played in the 2020 Olympic Games. Both Harman and Straka attended the University of Georgia.
Jason Day and Billy Horschel
Day and Horschel will be playing together for the first time. Day, a former World No. 1, paired with Cameron Tringale to win the Shootout in 2014. Horschel has finished among the top-five six times in his nine QBE appearances with eight different partners. Horschel played in his first team event for the U.S. this fall at the Presidents Cup. Day has played on four International Presidents Cup teams.
Steve Stricker and Cameron Young
The 55-year-old Stricker will be playing in his 13th Shootout while the 25-year-old Young, the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, will be playing in Naples for the first time. Stricker won four times on the PGA Tour Champions this year and served as an assistant captain for the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team. Young, finished runner-up three times this year, including at The Open Championship.
Maverick McNealy and Lexi Thompson
McNealy and Thompson, both age 27, represent another first-time pairing at the Shootout. McNealy, the world’s top amateur in 2017, recorded three top-10 finishes in his last seven starts of the season. Thompson is an 11-time LPGA winner, two-time Olympian, and has played on five United States Solheim Cup teams.
Tom Hoge and Sahith Theegala
Hoge and Theegala are both making their Shootout debuts. Hoge had a breakthrough season with a victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, one of five top-10 finishes. Theegala, age 24, came close to securing his first victory with a runner-up finish at The Travelers Championship.
Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer
Hoffman and Palmer have combined to play in nine Shootouts but are teaming up for the first time. Hoffman has finished third on three occasions, most recently with Gary Woodland in 2018. Palmer placed third with Harold Varner III in 2019.
Corey Conners and K.H. Lee
Conners and Lee were International teammates at the Presidents Cup this fall but were not paired together. Lee was on the winning side of two matches in the team’s defeat to the U.S. Conners racked up five top-10 finishes this season, including third at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship and sixth at the Masters. Lee won the AT&T Byron Nelson for his second Tour win.
Keith Mitchell and J.J. Spaun
Both playing in the Shootout for the first time. Spaun won his first PGA TOUR title in the spring at the Valero Texas Open and Mitchell had six top-10 finishes last season.
