“I don’t know how you can say that you see anything but wonderful things in her future.” – Judy Rankin on 2021 ANA Inspiration champion Patty Tavatanakit (18-under)
“Holding off a charge from one of the game’s best, and one of the great final rounds you’re going to see from Lydia Ko, she had an answer every step of the way.” – Terry Gannon on Tavatanakit’s final round
“The 62 today, we saw the Lydia of old… If she can keep doing this more consistently, she’s going to be that force to be reckoned with that we saw in 2014, 2015.” – Amanda Blumenherst on Lydia Ko (16-under, 2nd)
STAMFORD, Conn. – April 4, 2021 – NBC Sports presented final round coverage of the ANA Inspiration, golf’s first major of 2021, today on GOLF Channel from Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Cal.
Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit (-18) won her first career major title, which also marked her first LPGA Tour win, holding off a final round charge from Lydia Ko (-16, second place), who tied a course record with a 62 in today’s final round.
ANA Inspiration – Final Leaderboard
| Player | Total |
| Patty Tavatanakit | -18 |
| Lydia Ko | -16 |
| Nelly Korda | -11 |
| Sei Young Kim | -11 |
| Shanshan Feng | -11 |
| Nanna Madsen | -11 |
On Patty Tavatanakit (18-under, 2021 ANA Inspiration champion)
Terry Gannon: “With power and poise, Patty Tavatanakit is a major champion…Holding off a charge from one of the game’s best, and one of the great final rounds you’re going to see from Lydia Ko, she had an answer every step of the way.”
Judy Rankin: “She’s the kind of player that she wants to have the chance, she wants to have the shot. I don’t know how you can say that you see anything but wonderful things in her future.”
Rankin: “Not only did Patty win, but we saw what she’s capable of, and that is really interesting as you go on through this season and the next seasons…Seeing that kind of distance and that kind of control and those kind of scores from a player that we had not seen it from ever before, is really eye-opening.”
Jerry Foltz: “She’s special, and I think that pretty much sums it up…She came out with more on the line than she’s ever had in her life, had somebody chasing her down in almost historic fashion, and never really blinked.”
Amanda Blumenherst on Tavatanakit’s distance: “We have long hitters out on the LPGA Tour, but there’s nothing like this and it’s also consistent. She’s consistently hitting it far and in the fairway…It makes life a lot easier when you have a short wedge into a green.”
On Lydia Ko (16-under, 2nd)
Gannon: “What a day for Lydia Ko, kind of signaling that she is all the way back and ready to win again.”
Rankin: “There’s something very unusual about someone really good starting to fight it, to lose it, and then to do all the work and all the things you must do mentally to regain it. That’s a different kind of confidence. That’s got to really make you strong.”
Blumenherst: “The 62 today, we saw the Lydia of old when this was going to be the next Annika (Sorenstam), and this is the next Lorena (Ochoa)…If she can keep doing this, maybe not week-in and week-out, but more consistently, she’s going to be that force to be reckoned with that we saw in 2014, 2015.”
Billy Kratzert: “When you think about what Lydia Ko had done and where she started, it was amazing…Lydia, she found her game.”
--NBC SPORTS--
