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 as they improved their score to 20 under at the PGA & LPGA Tour mixed event.
They lead from Atthaya Thitikul and Tom Kim who shot up the leaderboard with a 64 to close on 18 under.
Jennifer Kupcho holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the last as she and Akshay Bhatia signed for a 68 and they will start the final round three back on 17 under.
Tavatanakit and Knapp opened with a 58 in Friday’s opening scramble format, where both players hit a tee shot and then the team selects the ball to be used for the next stroke. From there, both players hit their next shots from that spot, with that process continuing until the ball is holed.
And they continued to impress in Saturday’s foursomes at the Tiburon Golf Club as they chase the first prize of $1m.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and Australia’s Jason Day, who won the inaugural staging of this tournament in 2023, shot a five-under 67 and are five back on 15 under.
The third round will feature a new format for team play. In the ‘modified fourball’ both players will tee off and then they will switch balls for their second shots and play that ball until holed. The lower score will count as the team score.
