Jason Day, Lydia Ko form potent duo at Grant Thornton Invitational

NAPLES, Fla. – Jason Day and Lydia Ko have each seen the view from the top.

After fashioning a 6-under 66 in Foursomes on Saturday, the best round of the day by two, they top the leaderboard at the mixed-team Grant Thornton Invitational at Tiburón Golf Club.

Ko-Day lead Nelly Korda-Tony Finau (70) and Leona Maguire-Lucas Glover (69) by two going into Sunday’s final round, which will feature a Modified Four-ball format. That means both players will tee off and then switch balls for their second shots, then play that ball until holed.

“I apologize in advance,” Ko said, laughing, a nod to her modest distance off the tee.

Day shook his head.

“I mean, she flushed it the last two days,” he said. “I'm just trying to do the same. I think we've got a really good shot at like getting this over the hill tomorrow.”

Four teams will go into Sunday four shots back, including the tandem of Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson, who provided the day’s big highlight with Thompson’s hole-in-one on 16.

You’d never know it, but Day and Ko met just this week. That’s not to say Day was unfamiliar with how lucky he’d gotten with his partner. He knew Ko, 26, had excelled under pressure, becoming the youngest-ever to win LPGA Rookie of the Year in 2014 and the youngest-ever to win Player of the Year in ’15.

She has 19 LPGA wins, including two majors. She’s also, like Day, a hard worker, spending time on the practice green after their round Saturday despite a noisy rock concert set up at the nearby driving range.

Day has been so impressed by Ko he’s been raving about her to his inner circle.

“She said she didn't hit it that great on Tuesday,” he said, “but a practice round is a practice round and … I just knew, because she's been in pressure situations for so long and been under the pump for so long, I knew once the first tee shot was hit, she would go back into the whole mindset of playing competitive golf again and getting it done.”

Day, 36, also knows something about that. He racked up 10 PGA TOUR titles, including the PGA Championship and THE PLAYERS Championship, from 2015-18, reaching world No. 1 in the process.

After a long dry spell, he returned to the winner’s circle with a victory at the AT&T Byron Nelson this year – his 13th TOUR win – and finished 28th in the FedExCup.

Ko said Day was only the fourth PGA TOUR player she’s ever played with, and the most impressive.

“I feel like I don't need to take the putter out of my bag because he's been so clutch,” she said.

She’s also been awed by his distance, a common refrain from the LPGA pros this week.

“Every drive, with mine I go, 'Oh, I carry it like 235,'” she said, “'but am I going to hit the fairway or not? And his is going like 300, OK, it's going down the fairway.' It's just an easy place to be at as a partner.

“I was trying to keep the ball in play for him because he's just been all around so consistent.”

The Australia/New Zealand tandem’s teamwork was evident all day. After Day had hit their approach into the right greenside bunker on 18, Ko splashed out to around 6 feet before Day made the putt to save par.

Par was a good score Saturday, but with two balls back in play Sunday, birdies will be plentiful, and the leaders will have to go low to claim the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational trophy.

“Yeah, it's fun,” Day said, “but I still want to win and I'm sure Lydia wants to win, too. We could definitely use a win like this or even a good finish to propel us into next season.”

So far, so good.