Last year at the FREED GROUP Women's Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf, Patty Tavatanakit was in tears after 36 holes, carding a second-round, 6-under 66 to finally play the weekend after missing the cut in her four previous starts. Now, in the 2023 edition of the event, the 23-year-old will have a shot at capturing her second career LPGA Tour title and first since becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2021 Chevron Championship as she sits three back of the lead with 18 holes to play in Ayrshire, Scotland.
Tavatanakit opened her week at Dundonald Links with rounds of 72 and 68 to sit in a tie for sixth at 4-under and began the third round eight back of the lead held by Hinako Shibuno. She started slow, bogeying her first hole of the day, but bounced back quickly with an eagle on the par-5, 3rd hole to move to 5-under. She grabbed a birdie on the par-5, 5th hole to get to 6-under and picked up another birdie on No. 9 to turn in 33, sitting at 7-under overall. Tavatanakit parred holes 10 and 11, making birdie on 12 to get to 8-under, and then recorded her second eagle of the day on the par-5, 14th hole, parring in for a 6-under 66, her second-lowest round of the 2023 season.
It's the third time this year that the Thailand native has carded back-to-back rounds in the 60s and it's the first time since the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony that Tavatanakit has been within five of the lead entering the final round. While it's certainly fun to finally be in the mix again, the UCLA alum wasn't putting any pressure on herself to perform on Moving Day at the FREED GROUP Women's Scottish Open and was only focused on seizing the opportunities that were put in front of her.
"It was just a good day. Everything was solid. I made a lot of putts. I didn't think about making eagles. I just take it shot by shot. It just happens to be three eagles in 36 holes," said Tavatanakit, who also eagled hole 14 in the second round. "I just want to have fun tomorrow and not really think about anything and just go out there and play golf like I did today. It was really light, and it was really fun."
This is Tavatanakit's third consecutive start in the FREED GROUP Women's Scottish Open and she's finished inside the top 30 in her two previous appearances, tying for 27th in 2021 and tying for 29th in 2022. This is her 15th start of the 2023 season and she's recorded one top-five finish so far this year, a T3 at the DIO Implant LA Open in March. She's only missed four cuts, a vast improvement compared to last season, and says she has felt more "settled into the right place" in the past few weeks than she had earlier in the year.
So, no matter what happens tomorrow, Tavatanakit can absolutely chalk this week up as a success, especially considering the momentum it will provide as she heads into the year's fifth and final major. Regardless of the final result, she will learn something from this week in Scotland and move ahead to the latter half of the season, knowing that ultimately, she's trending in the right direction.
"Regardless of how I feel prior to this event, the result, it is what it is," Tavatanakit said. "I could be feeling amazing, and the result is not there. Or I could feel "meh" and score around the course. So it just doesn't really matter. What matters is you just go out there and play golf.
"You learn every day when you play golf. You learn every single round, after every single shot. So I'm just really having fun learning so far."
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