Two strangers, one swing change crisis, and the lowest score in tournament history.

Daniel Berger pulled out of the Grant Thornton Invitational days before it started, leaving Charley Hull without a partner. Enter Michael Brennan—a 23-year-old who started 2025 outside the top 700 in the world rankings and now sits at No. 35 after winning the Bank of Utah Championship in just his third PGA Tour start. The two had never met before this week. They’d never hit a shot together. And they just fired a 17-under 55 to set the tournament record.

The “Intense” Misunderstanding

Before the first round, organizers filmed Hull and Brennan playing a getting-to-know-you game on a whiteboard. They agreed on their team name—the “Gym Bros,” because they both love working out. They picked “Free Bird” as their hype song. Then came the question: describe your partner in one word. Hull wrote “cool.” Brennan wrote “intense.” Hull’s reaction was priceless: “Really, you think I’m intense? I’m like the most laid-back person in the world… I couldn’t give a f*** about anything!” The video went viral. Brennan clearly didn’t know who he was dealing with.

13 Straight Holes of Perfection

Their opening round Friday at Tiburón Golf Club was absurd. After a birdie-par start, Hull and Brennan went 13 consecutive holes making either birdie or eagle. Two eagles on the par-5 6th and 14th. Only three pars total on their card. They had a realistic shot at shooting 54—golf’s perfect score—standing on the 18th tee. They settled for par and a 55. “It’s quite funny because actually I was changing my swing last week and I came on Tuesday and I could not even keep the ball on the planet,” Hull said afterward. “So I was actually pretty nervous today. Actually, it worked out pretty well.”

Thompson and Clark Match the Madness

Just when it looked like Hull and Brennan would run away with the lead, Lexi Thompson and Wyndham Clark caught fire on the back nine. They shot 27 on their final nine holes, including an eagle at the 10th to spark a seven-under stretch over eight holes. Clark drained a birdie at 18 to match Hull and Brennan’s 55. Two teams shooting the same tournament-record score on the same day? In scramble format or not, that’s wild. The previous record was 56, set by Nelly Korda and Tony Finau in 2023. Both teams obliterated it.

The Format Gets Real Now

Friday’s scramble format—where both players hit every shot and choose the best one—is the easiest of the three-day event. Saturday switches to foursomes, the brutal alternate-shot format where only one ball is in play and partners take turns hitting. Sunday finishes with modified fourball. Hull and Brennan hold a two-shot lead over Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak heading into the tougher stuff. The question now: can two people who met this week stay in sync when the format stops being forgiving? Given what they just did as complete strangers, don’t bet against them.