'Golf nerds' Knapp and Patty top mixed pairs event

MIAMI - Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and American Jake Knapp completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Grant Thornton Invitational on Dec 15 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida.

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She holed a long birdie putt at the par-three 16th hole to tie Jennifer Kupcho and Akshay Bhatia for the lead. And he followed it with a birdie tap at the par-five 17th as the team shot a seven-under 65 to finish the event 27-under 189.

Kupcho and Bhatia had made a late push with an eagle at No. 17, but a bogey at the par-four last hole pushed them back to 25 under, and Patty and Knapp pulled away.

Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand and South Korea's Tom Kim birdied the last hole to sneak past Kupcho and Bhatia for second at 26 under. Both those teams shot rounds of 64 in the modified four-ball format on Dec 15.