Jeeno Thitikul wasn’t taking any of this “we” stuff. When Tom Kim said after their team round on Saturday in the Grant Thornton Invitational that “we made a bad decision with the ball flight we chose to put her there” in hitting the tee shot into a greenside bunker on the par-3 16th hole during alternate shot, Thitikul was quick to point out that it wasn’t a “we” decision.
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They both laughed because that’s the kind of easy rapport they have. As Kim corrected, it was he and his veteran caddie, Paul Tesori, who decided on the approach. Ultimately, they could all smile because Thitikul, the recent champion of the season-ending LPGA CME Group Tour Championship and its record $4 million first prize, took the smoothest of swings and holed out the sand shot for a birdie that put the pair two shots off the lead heading into Sunday’s final round at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
What can't @Jeeno_atthaya do?! 🤯
She holes out from the bunker to get within one of the lead pic.twitter.com/scpXoqig7O
— LPGA (@LPGA) December 14, 2024
Kim tossed down his visor after the shot and gave Thitikul a hug for the birdie that could be massive in the longtime friends’ effort to win a first Grant Thornton together.
On a day that saw wild changes in the weather, Thitikul’s play in their eight-under 64—a score two shots better than any of the other 15 teams in the field—had Kim reaching for nicknames. “We were deciding ‘Jeeno Scheffler’ or ‘Jeeno Woods,’ and we decided obviously with 82 wins and 14 majors, she played like Tiger Woods today.”
The two, who say their close relationship provides an edge in team play, must still catch another pair in Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit, who are both UCLA products but hadn’t met each other until Tuesday of this week. They opened with a 64 in fourball on Friday and followed with a strong 66 in the second round.
On Sunday, the format is modified fourball, with both players teeing off, switching to the other’s ball for their second shots and playing that same ball until it’s holed.
Knapp and Tavatanakit have definitely clicked quickly this week.
“I think just the fact overall she’s kind of a golf nerd and like she kind of said yesterday, it’s fun to be able to kind of nerd out on certain stuff,” Knapp said. “Especially since there’s some differences between like the men’s game and women’s game, but at the same time she bombs it compared to people on her tour. It’s kind of fun that we both have similar strategies or similar issues on some courses and stuff like that. I feel like we just see eye to eye on a lot of different things.”
Knapp and Tavatanaki are the only pair in the event who each notched a victory in the 2024 season, Knapp, 31, captured the Mexico Open at Vidanta and Tavatanakit, 25, won the Honda LPGA in her home country of Thailand. Her other LPGA win came in her 2021 rookie at the major ANA Inspiration.
Only three shots back heading into the final round are Akshay Bhatia and Jennifer Kupcho, with defending champions Jason Day and Lydia Ko four strokes behind.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
