Lexi Thompson started the week by insisting that making the cut at the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open would be “definitely at the top of my accomplishments.”
At one point on Friday, it appeared she might need to rebuild her list of aspirations.
Thompson opened the day at TPC Summerlin by missing a par putt on the 17th green after resuming a first round that was halted by darkness. Then Thompson opened the second round with a bogey on the 10th hole, her first of the round, pushing her to 3 over for the tournament.
That’s when the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner showed the tremendous resolve that made her a major winner, using birdies on three of the next five holes to get back near the projected cutline, and then adding another pair of birdies after the turn. But a few minor mishaps on her last few holes proved too much to overcome and likely knocked her out of the weekend.
More: Lexi Thompson joined Annika Sorenstam, Babe Zaharias among women who played in a PGA Tour event
She finished the day with a 69 and was even par for the two days, marking just the third PGA Tour round by a female under 70. Michelle Wie had the previous two, both in the Sony Open (one in 2004 and another 2006).
Thompson likely just missed out on becoming the first female to make a cut at a PGA Tour since World War II, when Babe Didrikson Zaharias made the 36-hole cut at the 1945 Tucson Open. That would have been a span of 28,756 days between events.
Zaharias, one of the game’s great athletes, had the kind of game that allowed her to fit in on the PGA Tour, too, and in 1935, she played the Cascades Open. Zaharias missed the cut, but it started an 11-year stint during which she teed it up a handful of times with the men (becoming the first woman to do so). She was instrumental in attracting early fanfare to the LPGA.
Thompson has certainly done the same this week, bombing drives of over 300 yards and drawing galleries to a FedEx Cup Fall tournament that’s lacking in star power.
“Very proud. I played really well today, came out super early, and bogeyed 17 but made a great save on 18 there and just overall played very steady,” Thompson said. “As the day went on, I tried to stay committed to my targets out there and to my swing thoughts and just enjoyed the whole experience.”
She looked in good position to make the weekend after a birdie on the second hole pushed her to 2 under for the tournament.
Back-to-back birdies for @Lexi!
She moves to 2-under and one shot inside the cutline @ShrinersOpen. pic.twitter.com/Z8kR9bfPX1
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 13, 2023
A bad break on No. 5 started to derail things, however, as she pushed her tee shot on the par 3 a bit right and it caromed into a penalty area. Thompson returned to a drop area, then stuck an iron close and dropped a big 6-foot putt that kept her at 1 under, right at a projected cutline that was expected to drop due to calm scoring conditions.
But for the second straight day, the eighth hole proved a thorn in Thompson’s side as she rolled through the long par-3, came up well short on a chip and then missed a par putt. The bogey dropped her to even, meaning she needed a birdie to stay in contention for the cut line and an eagle to get secure.
On her final hole, needing an eagle to get safe inside the line, Thompson hit her drive 289 yards and followed with a 258-yard second shot that just missed the green. A chip from the fringe just missed and then her birdie putt caught the lip and went a couple inches past.
Overall, it was an impressive performance by Thompson, especially on Friday. The 11-time LPGA winner hit 12 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens and averaged over 301 yards off the tee.
Even with the disappointing finale, Thompson was thrilled with the excitement of her PGA Tour debut and even enjoyed the media attention her appearance brought.
“It was a lot, but it was expected. Coming into the week I knew it would be a lot. But that’s why I have my family here, my loved ones, and to have that balance, once I left here, I was shut off and just myself and I could relax as much as I wanted to,” she said. “But the media is part of it. That’s the way to reach out to your fans, and seeing the fans out there and all the little girls, that’s what it’s all about.
“Seeing the people out there and hearing the cheers and seeing all the little kids, that’s what I play for. I think I said that on the last hole. A little kid screamed out, go Lexi, you’re great, and that just makes my day. No matter what I’m shooting, I could shoot 80, and they’d be like, you did great.
“That’s what it’s all about, just inspiring.”
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