RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA | It surprises no one who knows her. Unfortunately, that is still a relatively small number of people.
Patty Tavatanakit, the 21-year-old second-year rookie out of UCLA, shot a ho-hum 6-under 66 on Thursday at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to take an early first-round lead over an impressive list of contenders, including Shanshan Feng and Rolex Rankings No.1 Jin Young Ko. Those who have watched Patty T., as she’s known informally, said, “Of course she did.” This is, after all, a player who won three times on the Epson Tour in 2019; a player who is so powerful and physically gifted that she can almost overpower a course; and a player who, playing on a sponsor’s exemption at the 2019 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic as a 19-year-old, shot a tournament record 11-under 61.
Still, with the abbreviated 2020 schedule and a lot of players choosing to stay in their home countries for most of last year, many of her LPGA Tour peers (and a fair number of fans) are seeing her or perhaps hearing her name for the first time.
On Tuesday, for example, Jin Young Ko walked over and introduced herself to Patty on the 10th tee. The two had signed up for a practice round at the same time. A minute later, Ko hit a hybrid into the middle of the fairway and was surprised to turn around and see Patty at the back of the tee box with a driver in her hand. A second later, Patty blasted a towering tee shot that was barely on its way down when it cleared a bunker 250 yards downrange. Ko’s eyes widened and she looked back at her caddie as if to ask, “Who on earth is this?”
The world will know soon enough. Tavatanakit is the real deal, a player who reached every par-5 on Thursday, three with irons and one with a 3-wood. On the 18th, she didn’t hesitate to pull 6-iron from 175 despite being in the rough. Strength and a ball-flight that would bring a smile to Rory McIlroy’s face makes those kinds of decisions easier. Patty hit her second shot to 10 feet and barely missed a closing eagle.
“It's pretty much a long par-4,” Patty said. “I just wanted to hit the green. I don't care about anything else. It's a pretty wide green and I had a 6-iron, so it's always nice to have a higher ball flight into that green. I was able to stop it just about pin high.”
Watch her in person and you can’t believe that you haven’t heard of her. But she’s young. The performances haven’t matched up with the gifts so far. Patty only had one top-10 in 2020 to go with seven missed cuts and more ups and downs than the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. So far in 2021, she’s had a T5 at the Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona in Florida but missed the cut by a mile last week at the Kia Classic.
“Basically, it’s still my rookie year so there is a lot to learn,” she said on Thursday after her 66. “Everyone is good out here, so you have to show a lot of respect to the other players, too. It's not like, oh yeah, I dominate the course. I still have to execute. I still have to hit good shots. I still have to play smart. I can’t ever get ahead of myself out there because literally anyone could shoot low numbers and sneak up there really quickly.”
She has a PGA Tour winner, Grant Waite, as her coach and caddie, proving that someone who knows the game sees her potential.
“Grant just kind of straightened out my path, just got me up and down a little better, which makes – my ball doesn't curve that much,” Patty said. “It's always nice to hit a straight kind of baby draw or baby-fade shot.
“You know, golf is a whole sport. It's not just mental. It's part mechanics, too. You have to even it out pretty good, which I think I did a good job of that.”
So, what are the next steps? How does Patty go from a surprise name with a mountain of potential to someone who gathers wins in bundles?
“You know it takes a lot out here to play well week after week, day after day,” she said. “It's a really tough job, a tough sport. Not every day is going to go your way. But I feel like the growth from being in contention will pay off. I just have to keep learning, keep being in it. Eventually I'll be able to finish it out. It doesn't have to be this week. I have a long career ahead of me, and I'm just going to keep playing the way I'm playing.
“The thought process is really good. And I think that's really important to finishing strong in the future as well.”
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