Read a transcript of the post-Round 1 interview with Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit.
Read a transcript of the post-Round 1 interview with Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit.
Q. First round together, hot start, birdie on every hole for the front nine. What did you guys like about today?
JAKE KNAPP: Yeah, I think we kind of hamandegged it there on the front nine for a while, but at the same time I think we both just hit a lot of solid shots, had a lot of good looks and kind of fed off each other in terms of if somebody didn’t hit a good shot. There wasn’t really much strategy necessarily, it was more just try to go hit good golf shots and try to put ourselves in good opportunities and we were able to do that.
Q. UCLA Bruins, how’d this partnership come together and when did you guys first meet?
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: We met on Tuesday for a practice round. I was going to play nine and then I just have so much fun playing with Jake
JAKE KNAPP: She had
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: 14 holes on Tuesday.
Q. What’s the team chemistry for you guys been like? Clearly worked really well today on the golf course, but outside the golf course, too.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: I feel like we kept it pretty chill, we just talked about random things. I feel like I haven’t played golf like this free in a while, so it is actually a really nice feeling. I feel very secure out there because I know I have a really good partner.
JAKE KNAPP: It’s like I got to spend some time with Alison Lee a week ago so she gave me some insight on Patty. I feel that’s the overall theme of this week, kind of get to know one another and also just have a good time. Still go out there and compete obviously, but kind of have fun above all.
Q. What are the complements to each other’s games that lets you all hamandegg it out there?
JAKE KNAPP: As you can tell, she makes a lot of putts so it was kind of decided early on that I was going to go first. She went first everywhere else pretty much. And then maybe the short game stuff, her putting, I would go first. It just felt like that gives her an opportunity to free her up and she doesn’t ever really hit a bad shot so I never really had any pressure on tee shots, it was pretty great.
Q. With such a hot start like that, did you guys talk about what kind of score you might be able to shoot out there at any point?
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: We didn’t talk about it. Like I just realized on 7 that we’ve been birdieing every single hole. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t really thought about it.
JAKE KNAPP: Yeah, I didn’t really know what a good score was going to be like. You just never really know in this stuff. It’s kind of windy and the greens are fast, so it’s very possible for two pros to hit two bad shots in a row.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: Yeah.
JAKE KNAPP: I knew 9 under wasn’t going to be a bad score after nine holes. But a couple pars to start off the back nine, it was like OK, let’s make sure we try to keep giving ourselves opportunities, and to be able to finish eaglebirdie like that’s always pretty nice.
Q. What did Alison tell you about Patty?
JAKE KNAPP: She said she can get a little upset at times and get down on herself maybe, so she was like just don’t let her get that way. I was like, that’s fine, I get upset, too.
No, it was just kind of more so just like keep the conversation going and just make sure we have a good time between shots.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: Basically, he’s just babysitting me.
JAKE KNAPP: Yeah, pretty much.
Q. What did you talk about outside of golf?
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: Just so many things, I don’t know.
JAKE KNAPP: Talked about school a little bit.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: Yeah, school.
JAKE KNAPP: About where we live and all that sort of stuff. Kind of just getting to know each other. Also, we do talk a lot about golf too and like different shots. We’re both golf nerds for the most part.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: Yeah, I feel like, yeah, this week like just playing with you guys, seeing some shots, I’m like, I’m such a golf nerd, like I just take everything in and I analyze it right away. So it’s like it’s funny to realize that and able to like share that with him.
Q. Why are events like these so important for the health of golf overall?
JAKE KNAPP: I mean, I think honestly they probably don’t get as many eyes on as they should because they don’t realize like people just don’t realize how good they are. Like if you watch our round today, like I hit plenty of bad golf shots but we always had a shot to rely on whether it was a solid shot on a par 3 or tee shot right down the middle. It’s like sure, I have the opportunity to hit it farther at times or something like that, but with that comes some dispersion issues. Just like their attention to detail, how dialed in their short game is, their putting is and distance control, all that sort of stuff. I think just overall just getting more people to be aware of how good all of them really are.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: Like we work hard. If anything, like no offense, like just as hard if not harder than you guys.
JAKE KNAPP: Yeah.
PATTY TAVATANAKIT: That’s why I feel like a lot of us, like we take golf as like a part of us and just to watch the guys play, they don’t really have that tie to like them as a person.
So I feel like, yeah, like we pour our hearts into the sport and just want to be recognized more and I feel like this event, like Grant Thornton Invitational, is just a great way to expose our love to the game and our hard work and everything. Like we’re so dedicated to our job and we just want to do good and be as good as them, too.
