Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp pulled off a thrilling victory at the Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples, Florida, thanks to some clutch putting and impressive teamwork down the stretch.
The former UCLA teammates finished at 27-under par, taking home $500,000 each for their efforts.
It wasn’t easy. With several teams in the hunt during Sunday’s final round, Tavatanakit drained a massive 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to pull even with the leaders. Then Knapp showed nerves of steel on the next hole, hitting an incredible pitch shot that led to another birdie and the eventual win.
“Everything has been fun. The chemistry has been really good,” Tavatanakit said after their 7-under 65 sealed the deal.
These two know something about winning. Earlier this year, they both claimed victories on their respective tours – Knapp at the Mexico Open and Tavatanakit at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
The tournament used an interesting format where players hit their own tee shots, then switched balls for their next shots before completing each hole.
Tom Kim and Jeeno Thitikul made a late charge, finishing just one shot back after posting a 64. Thitikul, who’s been on fire lately after winning last month’s LPGA finale on this same course, sank an 8-footer for birdie on 18 to grab solo second place.
The drama peaked in the final hour when Akshay Bhatia’s 30-foot eagle putt briefly gave him and partner Jennifer Kupcho the lead. But things fell apart for them on the last hole – they found the water, struggled to recover, and ended up with their only bogey of the day.
Even the Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Brooke Henderson made things interesting, shooting a blistering 62 to briefly tie for the lead before running out of holes.
For their second-place finish, Kim and Thitikul each took home $280,000 from the $4 million purse.
