The 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational has seen some exciting contests so far. Defending champions Lydia Ko & Jason Day were supposed to face tough competition from the teams of Nelly Korda & Daniel Berger and Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler. However, in a surprising turn of events, Patty Tavatanakit & Jake Knapp had an excellent round of strokeplay on the first day to top the leaderboard with a score of -14. The defending champions and favorites were nowhere close to the pair. And the final round holds its surprises.

Round 2 saw Atthaya ‘Jeeno’ Thitikul & Tom Kim rise up to the leaderboard with an excellent -8 finish. They ended up 2 points shy of Patty Tavatanakit & Jake Knapp, who concluded the day at -20. Ko & Day ended up 5 points away from the top, while the other favorites were at least 9 strokes shy.

Going into the final round, Thitikul & Kim are paired with board leaders Tavatanakit & Knapp as the four golfers are expected to be fighting for the total till the very last hole. Lydia Ko & Jason Day will group up with Jennifer Kupcho & Akshay Bhatia. The day will begin with Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler teeing off with Gabriela Ruffels & Nick Dunlap. The Nelly Korda & Berger team will play 45 minutes later along with Sahith Theegala & Allisen Corpuz.

As shared by @PGATOURComms on their X account, Round 3 is set to begin at 8:40 A.M. local time. The final group of the leaderboard toppers will tee off at 10:25 A.M. The caption on the post read, “Final round groupings and starting times for the Grant Thornton Invitational. Sunday format: Modified Four-Ball,” confirming that the final round will be a modified four-ball format or better ball format.

The modified four-ball format will ensure that both the players in the team will have to heavily rely on each other right from the tee-off. Do you want to know how it works? Let’s find out.

What is the modified four-ball format?

Rightly known as the better ball approach, the modified four-ball format makes both the players from the team tee off one after another. For their next shot, they exchange the position of their shots to continue the rest of the game. In the end, the best score of the two pros becomes the team score. If in such cases, the first pro has already putt and the second pro is unable to better the score of the first, then they can move ahead with the first player’s score without having to finish with the other teammate.

In longer holes, teams would benefit from such a format as the men would be able to tee off further allowing the women golfers to hit their next stroke from a closer range. Even in short-range holes, having two strokes to choose from makes it extremely advantageous for the pros. This format is often used in the Presidents Cup, the Ryder Cup, & the Solheim Cup.

Do you think Patty Tavatanakit & Jake Knapp will be able to replicate their excellent score from the first round or will Jeeno Thitikul & Tom Kim end up capturing the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational? Share your views in the comments section.