Patty Tavatanakit couldn’t sleep Saturday night. She turned out the lights at 10 p.m., took some magnesium powder and tried to count her breaths. The rookie said she must have reached 100 at least five times.
Of course, after watching Tavatanakit cruise around Mission Hills on Sunday without a single flinch, one would assume she slept like an absolute rock before that final round at the ANA Inspiration. Nothing about the rookie’s game would’ve suggested that she was new to the winner’s circle.
Tavatanakit closed with a bogey-free 68 to finish at 18-under to complete a wire-to-wire victory to make the major championship her first LPGA win and hold off a hard-charging Lydia Ko, who fired a sensational 62. Not once did Tavatanakit look at a leaderboard.
Such mental fortitude doesn’t come without work, and to that end, Tavatanakit gives high credit to Vision54 coaches Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott, who were in the desert this week. When asked to name the most helpful thing Nilsson and Marriott passed along during a four-day stretch in which the 21-year-old led wire-to-wire, the powerful Thai player reached for her phone to read a text exchange that occurred on Sunday morning.
Vision54: Reality check. You don’t know if you’re going to win or not today. You can play good and not win, or you can play so-so and still win.
You do want to make yourself proud by taking the best actions possible to manage yourself and your game plan.
Tavatanakit said she took that message seriously, focusing on what she could control.
Here’s how Tavatanakit responded: I agree. No matter what happens today my core values are:
1. My parents will be proud of me and still love me no matter what.
2. I’m already so proud of myself to be able to play good the last three days and just be a better player already since last year.
3. I’m still going to be the same Patty who appreciates the love and care from the people that matter in Patty’s life.
4. At the end of the day, there is always room for improvement and I won’t stop trying to be or get better.
Tavatanakit tried to let those words sink into her system: “I really think those core values helped me to win today.”
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