NAPLES, Fla. — UCLA students Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit birdied the front nine in a scramble format Friday and finished with an eagle-birdie for a 14-under 58, giving them a one-shot lead after the opening round of Grant Thornton. Inviting.
The tournament features two teams of 16 players from the PGA Tour and the LPGA, the second year of the mixed team format.
The Canadian duo of Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners had two late eagles and narrowly missed a birdie on the 18th hole at Tiburon Golf Club. They had to settle for 59, tied with Akshay Bhatia and Jennifer Kupcho.
Knapp and Tavatanakit have a natural connection as they both played for the UCLA Bruins a few years apart. Their team name is “Rocco” — Knapp worked briefly as a bouncer before joining the PGA Tour and Rocco’s Tavern is a popular hangout in Westwood for UCLA students.
“Really cool,” Tavatanakit said describing the day. “I feel like everything was going the way we expected. The timing, the moments to renew the momentum were very good. We continued to play.”
They cooled off a bit after opening with nine birdies. Knapp hit a huge shot to about 5 feet on the par-5 17th for eagle, and Tavatanakit drained a birdie putt from about 15 feet on the 18th to take the lead.
“I knew 9-under wasn’t going to be a bad score after nine holes,” Knapp said. “But a couple of pars to start on the back nine it was like, ‘Okay, let’s make sure we try to keep giving ourselves chances.’ And to be able to finish eagle-birdie, that’s always great.”
Knapp won his first PGA Tour title at the Mexico Open. Tavatanakit won his first award as a rookie, the ANA Inspiration.
Maja Stark and JT Poston had 61 and were joined by Sahith Theegala and Allisen Corpuz. Defending champions Lydia Ko and Jason Day were 62 with Jeeno Thitikul and Tom Kim. Ko and Day were bogged down by a bogey on the third hole, which is unusual in the scramble format.
Thitikul last month won the CME Group Tour Championship in Tiburon and a $4 million prize, the richest in women’s golf.
The format changes to foursomes on Saturday, the tightest formats because one golf ball is played and the partners take turns hitting shots.
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