Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp posted a six-under-par 66 to open a two-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round of the Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples, Florida.
They combined for seven birdies and a bogey in the alternate shot format, improving their score to 20 under in the mixed PGA and LPGA Tour event.
Atthaya Thitikul and Tom Kim lead the way after shooting a 64 on the leaderboard to finish at 18 under.
Jennifer Kupcho made a 30-foot birdie putt in the final minute, and she and Akshay Bhatia signed for a 68 and will enter the third final round at 17 under.
Tavatanakit and Knapp started with a 58 in Friday’s first scramble format, in which both players hit tee shots and then the team chooses a ball for their next shot. Both players then take further shots from that spot and this process continues until the ball falls into the hole.
They continued to impress in Saturday’s foursome at Tiburon Golf Club as they competed for the $1 million first prize.
Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Jason Day of Australia, who won the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2023, posted a 5-under 67 to move five points back to 15-under.
The third round will have a new team play format. In “modified fourball”, both players start the game, then switch balls for a second shot and play it until the hole. The lower score will be counted as the team’s score.
