Lexi Thompson was an easy choice as a partner for Rickie Fowler at Grant Thornton

Jessica Korda has a good excuse for pulling out of this week's Grant Thornton Invitational and ditching partner Rickie Fowler in the mixed-team event.

The six-time LPGA Tour winner and Jupiter Island resident is expecting a baby in February.

"My partner bailed," Fowler said before Friday's first round at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples. "I tried to talk her into it, like 'you can still do it.' But yeah, she ultimately bailed."

Korda was at Tiburon early in the week but holding a microphone instead of a golf club. One of her interviews was with Fowler, who talked about his new partner, Lexi Thompson.

Korda ended the interview by saying how they would have to make their debut next year.

"I don't know," Fowler said with a big smile. "Depends how me and Lexi do."

Fowler and Thompson shot a 12-under 60 in their first round of competitive golf as partners, four shots behind leaders Nelly Korda and Tony Finau. Friday's format was a scramble.

They carded seven birdies on the front nine and were 10 under until Fowler drained a putt from the fringe on the par-5 17th for an eagle.

As Grant Thornton ambassadors, Fowler and Korda were paired soon after the first mixed-team, co-sanctioned event involving the PGA and LPGA tours in 24 years was announced.

But things changed for Korda, and Fowler was in search of another partner.

"I got to choose," Fowler said.

"And here I am," Thompson added.

Fowler, who lives in Jupiter, said it was an easy choice. Thompson did not have the best year of her career, missing the LPGA's season-ending CME championship for the first time after a rough start to her season, but the Delray Beach resident rebounded with a strong finish.

Thompson has played in this event (she was one of two women in the field last year before it became a full mixed event), and she's played this course many times. And this year she had a strong showing in the Shriners Children's Open on the PGA Tour.

"She's played well here," Fowler said, adding that when Thompson is hitting from the closer tees "she gets to kind of send it out there."

At the Shriners, Thompson was just the seventh woman ever to compete in a PGA Tour event and, despite missing the cut, her 69 in the second round was the second sub-70 score by a woman in PGA Tour history.

"We've seen that she can hang with the boys," Fowler said.

The two have known each other for a while, but do not try to get them to nail down that first meeting. As best they can remember it probably was a Cobra Puma photo shoot — both are sponsored by Cobra Golf — perhaps around 2010.

They occasionally have played together and have been around each other many times at photo shoots.

"It must have been very memorable for both of us because we don't remember," Fowler said.

Said Thompson: "Wish we had a better story."

Thompson is No. 31 in the women's world golf rankings. Fowler is 24th in the OWGR. Lexi has 11 LPGA titles, five more than Fowler on the PGA side. Her one major title is one more than Fowler has.

Still, both players have experienced similar lows. Fowler knows what Thompson was experiencing this year when she missed eight cuts in five months and did not place higher than 31st during that stretch.

Fowler's slump lasted about two years, taking him from the top 20 late in 2021 to out of the top 100 about 18 months later. He rebounded with a solid 2023 season which earned him a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

"I think the most important thing, just knowing you have somebody there to lean on if needed," Thompson said about the difficult times. "No direct conversations, but always having somebody is nice."

Grant Thornton Invitational

PGA and LPGA mixed-team event

Tiburon Golf Club, Naples

Saturday: 2 p.m., GOLF; 3 p.m., NBC

Sunday, 1 p.m. GOLF; 2 p.m. NBC

Streaming on Peacock

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Eagle on 17 highlights Lexi Thompson, Rickie Fowler 60 at Grant Thornton