Who is leading the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational after round 1? Leaderboard explored
The first round of the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational was played at Tiburon Golf Club in Florida. Tournament debutants Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp shot a perfect front nine to take the lead.
Tavatanakit and Knapp lead the Grant Thornton Invitational at 14-under. Four teams follow at three strokes or less, including last year's runners-up Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners.
2024 Grant Thornton Invitational Round 1 Leaderboard
Here is the leaderboard after the first round of the Grant Thornton Invitational:
- 1 Patty Tavatanakit / Jake Knapp -14
- T2 Jenniffer Kupcho / Akshay Bhatia -13
- T2 Brooke Henderson / Corey Conners -13
- T4 Maja Stark / JT Poston -11
- T4 Allisen Corpuz / Sahith Theegala -11
- T6 Jeeno Thitikul / Tom Kim -10
- T6 Lydia Ko / Jason Day -10
- T8 Celine Boutier / Matthieu Pavon -9
- T8 Lauren Coughlin / Cameron Young -9
- T8 Lilia Vu / Luke List -9
- T8 Lexi Thompson / Rickie Fowler -9
- T8 Nelly Korda / Daniel Berger -9
- T13 Megan Khang / Matt Kuchar -8
- T13 Andrea Lee / Max Greyserman -8
- 15 Gaby Ruffels / Nick Dunlap -7
- 16 Mel Reid / Cameron Champ -6
Patty Tavatanakit and Jake Knapp made nine consecutive birdies on the front nine to quickly take the lead at the Grant Thornton Invitational. Over the next seven holes, the duo slipped back on the leaderboard with just two birdies and no bogeys, but an eagle and a birdie on the last two holes put them back on top.
Another rookie team, Jenniffer Kupcho and Akshay Bhatia, alternated with Tavatanakit and Knapp for the lead and eventually tied for second. Kupcho and Bhatia carded one eagle and eleven birdies, including seven on the back nine.
Defending Grant Thornton Invitational champions Lydia Ko and Jason Day got off to a slow start with four birdies and a bogey on the front nine. However, they put the pedal to the metal on the back nine where they added an eagle and five birdies to finish in a share of sixth place.
Something similar happened to Nelly Korda and Daniel Berger, who started the first round of the Grant Thornton Invitational with five birdies on the front nine, but only managed two over the next seven holes. That left them way behind in the leaderboard, but they birdied their last two holes to move into a tie for eighth.
The first round was played in a scramble format. In this format, both players hit their tee shots, then decide which ball has the better lie and both players hit their second shot from there. This process is repeated until the ball is holed, and the best score between team members is used as the team score.