Patty Tavatanakit had to fight back tears after a second-round 66 at the Women’s Scottish Open got her a Saturday tee time for the first time in a long time.
A low round Friday was a necessity after a Thursday 76 left her staring directly at another missed cut.
Tavatanakit, who is a major champion at 22 years old (2021 Chevron Championship), has not played weekend golf on the LPGA since late April when she finished T-26 at the Palos Verdes Championship.
“I had a rough stretch there, but I kept telling myself to keep it going, and when your golf is not going well and your personal life is not going well, it just adds up emotionally,” Tavatanakit said. “But to be able to do that today really just helped with everything and it's like a lull after a storm and just to see that -- very touching.”
Tavatanakit finds herself ranked 19th in the world after briefly cracking the top 10 in 2021.
Her recent struggles seemingly came out of nowhere.
Prior to her stretch of four straight missed cuts leading into the Scottish, the former UCLA star had made 24 consecutive cuts, with 11 top-10 finishes during that timeframe.
What kept her going in the midst of a missed-cut streak lasting three months?
“Just kept believing in myself and that was the big thing, because I feel like a lot of times I question the things I do just because of the result,” Tavatanakit said. “But at the end of the day, you keep believing in what you're doing, and it really did show today.”