Jason Day and Lydia Ko are five shots behind leaders Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit going into the final day of their Grant Thornton Invitational title defence.
The trans-Tasman duo finished Saturday in fourth place among the 16 teams in the Florida non-official event that pairs players from the PGA Tour players and LPGA Tour.
They posted a five under 67 at Tiburon Golf Club in the more difficult foursomes to get to 15 under.
Knapp and Tavatanakit retained the lead with a 66 and were at 20-under 124, two shots ahead of Tom Kim and Jeeno Thitikul (64).
Akshay Bhatia and Jennifer Kupcho (68) were three shots behind.
Knapp and Tavatanakit both went to the UCLA, though he was a few years ahead of the Thai.
“It was a grind,” said Tavatanakit, who won an LPGA major as a rookie at the ANA Inspiration. “We’re two good grinders. It’s fun to be able to do it, being out of position and saving par and converting birdies when we had to.”
Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels and young American star Nick Dunlap endured a tough day as they posted a 76, dropping four shots in the first three holes, to be sitting last at three under.
The final round Sunday will be modified fourball – both players hit tee shots, and then they play the other golf ball through the completion of the hole.
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Australian Associated Press
Sixties are the new hundreds with new balls and pitches
scott bailey
Sun, 15 Dec 2024, 5:30 pm GMT+1·3-min read
Steve Smith says scores of 60 for top-order batters are now sometimes as valuable as centuries after a “perfect storm” of changes to balls and pitches.
Smith posted his first Test hundred in 25 innings on Sunday, ending the longest drought of his career after a stretch dating back to June 2023.
His 101 helped Travis Head dramatically shift the third Test, as Australia finished day two at 7-405, in a match under significant threat of being ruined by rain.
The ton was also the first by an Australian batting in the top four this summer, and only the 13th of any top-order player in 18 Tests in the country since the start of 2021-22.
Players largely put that down to a change in Kookaburra balls at that time, with an extra layer of lacquer applied and a plastic lining under the seam making the seam more prominent.
“The wickets got greener as well,” Smith said.
“It’s kind of like a perfect storm coming together.
“The first 35 overs of the innings is very challenging at the moment, with the significant seam movement.
“The last three years has been probably been the hardest that I’ve experienced in my career in terms of the amount of movement that’s been generated.”
Steve Smith.
Smith looked close to his best form in his patient 190-ball 101 on day two in Brisbane. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)
Averages of top-four batsmen have dropped in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Bangladesh since the ball change.
Of nations who use a Kookaburra, only on the flatter wickets of Pakistan and Sri Lanka have such impacts not been felt.
And it is in Australia where the effect has been most significant, with top-four batters averaging 31.21 since December 2021, compared to 41.61 in the decade before that.
“The scores have come down. Bowling averages have come down. Batting averages have come down,” Smith said.
“Five years ago, you saw 400 or 500 being scored consistently in the first innings. If you put a three in front of it these days, you’re usually in a pretty good position.
“So you’ve got to think about that as well when you’re thinking about play.
“Sometimes if you don’t get a hundred, it’s not the end of the world. A good 60 or a good 30 at times can be really crucial and match-winning for a team.”
The other side of that, though, was on show in Australia’s innings on Sunday, with the extra lacquer Kookaburra staying harder for longer than in the past.
That has formed part of Australia’s thinking this summer, with an aim to bat time early and have the counter-attacking Travis Head and Mitch Marsh coming in after 40 or 50 overs.
“If you get through that period, you’ve got guys like Travis and Marshy and Alex (Carey) coming in,” Smith said.
“The ball still bounces off the bat a lot harder than it used to.
“Previously you get to those positions when the ball gets a bit softer, you’d see catches in front of the wicket and it would be a bit more difficult to score.”
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Yahoo Sport Australia
Travis Head makes mockery of ‘pathetic’ India move as Steve Smith passes Aussie cricket legend
Head and Smith put India to the sword as Rohit Sharma’s decision backfired brutally.
Sam Goodwin
sam goodwin
Sports Editor
Sun, 15 Dec 2024, 10:30 pm GMT+1·5-min read
Rohit Sharma is copping backlash for his decision to bowl first in the third cricket Test at the Gabba, with Travis Head and Steve Smith putting India to the sword on Sunday and showing how good the pitch is for batting. Sharma was tricked by the green tinge on the pitch and overcast conditions on Saturday, sending Australia in to bat first in the hope the ball would be hooping around.
But the plan backfired when only 13 overs were bowled on day one due to rain. And it looked even more foolish when the skies cleared on Sunday and the pitch appeared a batter’s paradise.
Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith and Steve Waugh.
Rohit Sharma (L) has copped backlash for his captaincy, while Steve Smith (centre) overtook Steve Waugh’s (R) century record. Image: Getty
Jasprit Bumrah continued his golden run with the early wickets of Usman Khawaja (21) and Nathan McSweeney (9), but Head and Smith showed how grateful they were to get first use of the pitch. Head plundered 152 off just 160 balls while Smith (101) overtook Steve Waugh with the 33rd century of his Test career.
Smith broke a long century drought stretching back to the Ashes in mid-2023, moving to outright second for most Test centuries by an Australian player (only behind Ricky Ponting with 41). But Head was the star of the show for the second match running, and made a complete mockery of Sharma’s decision to bowl first.
Cricket world stunned after India opt to bowl first at Gabba
Speaking on Fox Cricket, Aussie great and Queenslander Michael Kasprowicz said Sharma had been “sucked in”. He added: “It used to happen so often in Sheffield Shield cricket. You would see the green pitch and the conditions and bowl first.
“I used to reckon that Gabba could be the hardest venue in Australia to bowl first on because of the massive expectations. Bowlers try too hard and don’t hit the right lengths. It is easy to get it wrong and then you get to day two when the wicket hardens up it is so much better to bowl on. Captains see a bit of green and bowl first like (English captain) Nasser Hussain did. Often it just doesn’t work.”
Travis Head and Steve Smith.
Travis Head and Steve Smith both cashed in with centuries. (Photo by Albert Perez – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Aussie legend Kerry O’Keeffe was gobsmacked that Sharma fell into the trap. “Unless it’s a ‘green mamba’ and there are worms strolling on a good length…you bat first if you win the toss at the Gabba,” he said. “The Australian batters’ highest averages are in the first innings of a Test match and their lowest averages are in the fourth innings.
“So you’ve invited them into their favoured position. If you face Australia you want them to bat second and fourth. They’ve effectively said ‘you bat first because you bat so well there’.”
