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NAPLES, Fla. – LPGA star Lexi Thompson played in the QBE Shootout for the fourth consecutive year but had her worst finish. She and partner Sean O’Hair, who was playing competitively for the first time since February due to surgery for a badly torn oblique muscle, finished last among the 12 teams in the field at Tiburon Golf Club.
The pair shot 8-under 208 and landed 12 shots out of 11th.
“I’m ready for some time off, definitely ready,” said Thompson, 24, who tied for sixth in the LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship, also at Tiburon, back on Nov. 24. “But it was a fun week. Honored just again to be able to play here.”
Thompson was happy, however, to see her older brother Curtis, 27, wrap up fully exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour for next season with co-medalist honors at Q-School. Thompson birdied the final hole on Orange County National’s Crooked Cat course in Winter Garden, Florida, on Sunday, which gets him back on the developmental tour for next season. Curtis turned professional in 2014 and played on the Korn Ferry Tour from 2015-18.
The third Thompson sibling, 36-year-old Nicholas, came up a couple of strokes short of earning any guaranteed starts for 2020 after tying for 53rd. The top 40 earned improved status.
“I’m very proud of Curtis, and both of them really,” she said.
It has been a tough year for Curtis, who had taken a break from competitive golf and begun caddying. He worked as a club caddie as well as Lexi’s caddie, and was memorably on the bag when Lexi won the 2018 CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon.
“She’s one of the best players in the world, you see how she gets it done,” Curtis said of the time spent with his sister.
Asked for a memorable experience from working as a club caddie, Curtis only smiled.
“It’s a lot different than caddying for Lexi. Lot of watching golf balls.”
Julie Williams contributed to this report from Korn Ferry Tour Q-School.
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