Andrew Novak made three consecutive birdies on the back nine and Lauren Coughlin finished with a -9 in the Modified Four-ball format to secure a three-shot victory Sunday at the Grant Thornton Invitational. This was Novak's second team title this year.
The pair battled primarily with Chris Gotterup and Jennifer Kupcho until the 17th hole at Tiburn Golf Club.
Gotterup and Kupcho both missed the green in difficult positions and had to fight to save par. Novak and Coughlin, in the final group behind them, watched Novak sink a birdie putt from about 7 feet that gave them a two-shot lead heading into the final hole.
Lauren Coughlin and Andrew Novak, results
Coughlin's birdie putt helped set a new tournament record of -28.
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They finished three shots ahead of Gotterup and Kupcho, Denny McCarthy and Nelly Korda, and Michael Brennan and Charley Hull (65).
Novak had already won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Ben Griffin, the only official team event on the PGA TOUR. He joked that it would be a "modern-day Grand Slam" to also win the mixed-team title, which unites players from the PGA TOUR and LPGA.
Novak said he didn't realize how close the competition was until he saw the leaderboard on the 13th green, and even then, he knew he and Coughlin had a one-shot lead.
"We had more holes to play than the others," he said, referring to the birdie opportunities late in the round. Novak holed a birdie putt from about 7 feet on the 13th, followed by two 10-foot putts on the 14th and 15th, and the deciding shot on the 17th.
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In Modified Four-ball, both players tee off, then play their partner's ball for the remainder of the hole, with the lower score counting.
Novak and Coughlin each earned $500,000. It was Coughlin's largest career prize, having already won twice on the LPGA the previous year.
Korda missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th that would have given her and McCarthy a slim chance, and at least a solitary second-place finish. Korda will have another chance to win this year, teaming up with her father next week at the PNC Championship.
The rules of golf are relatively complicated compared to other sports because they are played outdoors, close to nature and animals. Respecting the rules is a fundamental element in the game of golf, which, almost always based on self-control and the free conscience of the players, often sees distorted results, sometimes consciously, but often unconsciously or through carelessness, due to the failure of many players to comply with the rules of the game. In addition to the rules, golf adheres to a code of conduct, known as etiquette, which generally means playing the game with due respect for the golf course and other players. Etiquette is an essential component of this sport.
