Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Jake Knapp recorded seven birdies to extend their lead during windy and wet conditions at the Grant Thornton Invitational on Saturday at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
The mixed team event featuring PGA and LPGA Tour stars employs three different formats over three rounds. In Saturday’s foursomes format — where each player alternates hitting shots with the same ball and the players alternate teeing off — Tavatanakit and Knapp started things off with birdies on two of their first three holes in putting together a 6-under-par 66, a score good enough to double their one-shot lead on the field from Friday.
The team is finding a rare synergy so far, and that stems from similar approaches to the game of golf.
“It’s kind of fun that we both have similar strategies or similar issues on some courses and stuff like that,” Knapp said. “I feel like we just see eye to eye on a lot of different things.”
After birdies on 1 and 3, the duo suffered their only bogey of the day on the par-4 No. 4, then rebounded to hit birdies on three of four holes (7, 8, 10). They closed their day with birdies on 16 and 17 and now sit at 20 under for the event.
“I feel like it’s just a mindset of like, you know what, we’ll just go play what’s in front of us,” Tavatanakit said. “I kept telling Jake, ‘front nine, like just bomb it, hit it, send it, like I can hit it from anywhere.’ Because I’m the same way, my game is wild as well, so don’t worry if it’s out of position, I know how to make pars.”
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and South Korea’s Tom Kim had by far the best round of the day to vault into second place at 18 under. Previously in sixth, the pair managed nine birdies against a single bogey to score an 8-under 64.
“We really had fun today,” Thitikul said. “When I want to play a team format, I am really, really serious about picking the partner.”
They found their groove with five birdies over seven holes on the back nine to put themselves in contention.
“Alternate shot is a very, very tricky format,” Kim said. “You can go low as we did today but also can go the other way, too. You just have to — you’ve just got to rely on putting your partner in a good spot.”
The two pairs who had been closest in pursuit after Friday’s scramble round, Jennifer Kupcho and Akshay Bhatia and Canadians Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners, fell off the pace somewhat. Kupcho and Bhatia shot a 4-under 68 to get to 17 under for the tournament, while Henderson and Conners are now at 14 under (T5) after scoring a 1-under 71.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and Australia’s Jason Day, who won last year’s event, are in fourth place (15 under) after their 5-under 67.
The other duos tied for fifth are Andrea Lee and Max Greyserman (66) and France’s Celine Boutier and Matthieu Pavon (67).
The third round Sunday will be a modified four-ball.
