Here’s what several PGA Tour players have said about the 11-time LPGA winner teeing it up this week with the men.
LAS VEGAS — Although a number of intriguing storylines pop off the page at the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open, all eyes will be on Lexi Thompson when she tees off Thursday at TPC Summerlin as part of a group with Kevin Roy and Trevor Werbylo, making her the seventh women to play on the PGA Tour.
Thompson’s exemption caused at least one Tour player (Peter Malnati) to say the move might have been a reach by tournament organizers (see full Malnati comments below), but Thompson calmly brushed the episode aside when she met with media members Tuesday.
“No reaction. I knew some comments were going to happen with anything. Like I said, I’m out here playing of course with the men, but I want to leave a message just to the kids that I’m following my dreams and to go after what you want with a positive mindset and don’t let anybody’s comments or reaction get in the way of that,” Thompson said. “But it’s all good. I mean, I expected it, so… ”
Here’s what other PGA Tour players have said about the 11-time LPGA winner teeing it up this week with the men.
Here are some of the best images from the week in Sin City.
The PGA Tour returns to Las Vegas this week for the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin.
As Tom Kim looks to go back-to-back after his win last year, LPGA star Lexi Thompson will become the seventh woman to play on the PGA Tour, joining the likes of Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie West. Thompson finished solo fifth last week at The Ascendant LPGA.
Kim has played well since a T-20 finish in Atlanta at the Tour Championship, tying for 18th at the BMW PGA Championship and for sixth at the French Open on the DP World Tour.
Here are some of the best photos from the week in Sin City.
Given that Thompson is in the midst of a four-year winning slump on the LPGA and only recently began to find some form, why in the world would she step into a potential cauldron of criticism by taking up a spot in a PGA Tour event? Furthermore, if she struggles at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, why risk tearing apart the confidence she’s built up since the Solheim Cup?
One week later, however, after several conversations with folks far wiser and more experienced, I’ve come to view Thompson’s decision in a different light.
I’ve since concluded that the reward for Thompson and golf is greater than the risk.
For starters, this is nothing like Annika Sorenstam’s appearance at The Colonial 20 years ago. At that time, Sorenstam was the best player in the women’s game. She wanted to test herself and push herself beyond anything she’d ever experienced. And while that was her personal goal, Sorenstam carried the weight of the tour and women’s golf on her shoulders. The sports world literally stopped to see how she fared.
There was great risk in Sorenstam’s decision to play, and even though she didn’t make the cut, it paid off handsomely. The Swede left Texas an even bigger force in women’s sport.
Thompson is far from a dominant figure on the LPGA, but she is the most well-known and most popular U.S. player, as much for her triumphs as her crushing defeats. If Thompson doesn’t play up to her standards at the Shriners, the LPGA won’t take a hit.
The 28-year-old isn’t expected to become the first player since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make a cut on the PGA Tour. If she does, however, it will be her most well-known accomplishment – far more than winning a major.
The untimely shank on the 18th on Friday at the Solheim Cup – coupled with the media debacle that followed – harkened back to those fragile times.
But there’s a resolve inside Thompson that’s undeniable, even if she’s reluctant to let the world in on her pain.
Lexi Thompson of the United States hits from the bunker on the 18th hole during the final round of the 76th U.S. Women’s Open Championship at The Olympic Club on June 06, 2021, in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Not long before the U.S. team left for Spain, captain Stacy Lewis told Thompson that she wouldn’t be playing foursomes in the Solheim Cup.
“I think she could have taken that a number of ways,” said assistant captain Angela Stanford, “and instead she was a great teammate. … She put her head down and worked.”
Thompson wasn’t gifted that opening shot on Friday foursomes. She had to prove herself on site that week to Lewis, and the captain responded to what she saw.
Thompson’s 3-1-0 record was a personal victory and a sign of good play to come.
Since the Solheim, she’s posted a pair of top-10 finishes that include four rounds in the 60s. While she’s still not inside the top 60 to qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, she has moved to within striking distance at No. 82.
While there are many women in the world playing better golf this season, it’s hard to believe that any woman other than Thompson should tee it up against the men. Few women have the physical aspects of Thompson – the spin, the strength, the length. Even fewer, however, would benefit at all from competing on the PGA Tour at this stage in their careers. The risk simply isn’t worth it.
Even though she hasn’t won a major championship in nearly 10 years, Thompson is battled-tested when it comes to disappointment. Most players on the LPGA haven’t come close to experiencing the amount of scrutiny Thompson has faced.
She’s also been in the spotlight since the age of 12 and on the LPGA more than a decade. If it’s a tough week in Vegas, the outcome won’t define her.
Perhaps the biggest element that shifted my thinking should’ve been the most obvious: the kids.
Lexi Thompson of Team United States signs autographs for fans during a practice round ahead of the start of The Solheim Cup at Inverness Club on September 02, 2021, in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Thompson is, without question, one of the best on tour when it comes to fan interaction. It could be the absolute worst day of her career – as it seemed to be in Rancho Mirage six years ago – and she’d still stand there with tear-stained cheeks and sign autographs with a smile on her face.
For a kid, watching a woman compete in a man’s world hits differently. Maybe a little girl sticks with golf even when she’s the only girl because of Thompson. Maybe a little boy invites a girl to play in his group because he watched a woman play on the PGA Tour.
Maybe Thompson’s presence brings in more fans and raises more money for Shriners patients all over the country.
No matter what happens on Thursday in Vegas, Thompson will give kids of all ages and abilities a day to remember.
But since she’s set to become the first female to play on the PGA Tour since Brittany Lincicome did so at the 2018 Barbasol Championship, those behind the scenes at the TPC Summerlin event wanted to make sure Thompson felt comfortable in her surroundings.
So just a few yards behind the driving range sits a substantial RV, one that gives Thompson plenty of room to relax and prepare for the day’s action.
The 11-time LPGA winner admitted this week it was more than she expected.
“It’s amazing. I mean, I open it up and there’s a bed in there. There were some La-Z-Boys. I’m like, all right if you can’t find me, I’m gonna be in here just relaxing,” Thompson told Golfweek. “I was definitely surprised.”
Thompson isn’t one to typically lounge in the dressing room anyway. She’s known more for getting in and out quickly, so even though she’s appreciative of the special setup, she certainly didn’t need it.
Organizers of the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open provided Lexi Thompson with a souped-up RV to serve as a dressing room at TPC Summerlin. (Contributed photo)
“She rarely spends any time in the dressing room,” said Brett Falkoff, who represents Thompson as well as others like Bryson DeChambeau. “I mean, a lot of times she puts her shoes on in the car. But it really is a great setup for her.”
While Thompson and parents Scott and Judy have enjoyed the comforts of the unique setup, the real winner has been Lexi’s dog, Leo.
“My dog is in there living the life this week,” she said with a smile.
StrackaLine offers a hole-by-hole course guide for TPC Summerlin and the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open.
TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, site of the PGA Tour’s 2023 Shriners Children’s Open, was designed by Bobby Weed and opened in 1991. Two-time major winner Fuzzy Zoeller provided input.
TPC Summerlin ranks No. 3 in Nevada on Golfweek’s Best ranking of top private layouts in each state. It will play to 7,255 yards with a par of 71 for the Shriners Children’s Open. Tom Kim returns to Las Vegas as the defending champion.
Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
While he’s feeling some extra juice this week as a former champ, it will likely pale in comparison to future pressure.
LAS VEGAS — Sure, there’s a little added pressure for Tom Kim this week as he prepares for his first defense of a PGA Tour title, something he couldn’t do while injured during the 2023 Wyndham Championship.
But while he’s feeling some extra juice this week as a former champ, it will pale in comparison to the pressure he’ll face when he plays in the Olympics and/or the Asian Games.
All able-bodied males are obligated to serve between 18 and 21 months in the military once they turn 19. They can postpone the date of their service but without a significant cultural justification, like an Olympic medal, service is mandatory.
That means Kim, who hails from Seoul and is now 21, will need to pull off a similar feat or he’ll be forced into military duty.
“That’s a great question,” Kim said when asked about his status on Tuesday. “We’ll know more in the future.”
He hasn’t played since the Tour Championship, but it has been a banner year for the phenom, one that’s seen Kim post top-25 finishes in each of his last five starts, including a T-2 at the Open at Royal Liverpool. But that still won’t be enough to get him out of the obligation.
And while some have come back from active duty to compete on the PGA Tour, some struggled after the time away. Seung Yul-Noh and Sang-Moon Bae are two Korean golfers who won on Tour but haven’t been able to regain their form after taking two years away from competition.
“So obviously those medals help. I think it depends on which medal. As I’m aware, with them having achieving gold they have exemptions for the military,” Kim said. “Asian Games looks like it is gold, but I think from the Olympics, from what I’m aware, a medal should take care of it.”
For now, Kim is simply vying to become only the second player to win the Shriners in consecutive years. Jim Furyk holds the distinction of being the only player to win the event in back-to-back seasons when he did so in 1998 and then again in 1999.
And according to the oddsmakers, many of whom work just a few miles east of Summerlin on the Vegas Strip, Kim is the favorite to win again, edging out Ludvig Aberg. While Kim can certainly muster a defense, it’s unlikely he’ll navigate the course without a bogey again as he did last year. Aside from Kim, only J.T. Poston has played an entire four rounds without a blip in the last half-century when he did so at the 2019 Wyndham.
“It’s definitely not an expectation to have this week,” Kim said. “It’s so easy to set them so high because I didn’t make a single bogey, 24 birdies, and you kind of have a feeling where you need to do it again.
Thompson will play in the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. The course measures just over 7,200, so distance shouldn’t be too big of a problem for one of the LPGA’s longest hitters (Thompson averages over 270 off the tee).
The 25th-ranked woman in the world has found her game over her last three starts, finishing T-19 at the Kroger Queen City Championship, T-8 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and solo fifth at last week’s The Ascendant LPGA.
Now, here are Thompson’s odds for several finishing positions.
Finish position
Odds
$100 would pay out…
Win
2,500 to 1(+250000)
$250,100
Top 5
400 to 1 (+40000)
$40,100
Top 10
150 to 1 (+15000)
$15,100
Top 20
45 to 1 (+4500)
$4,600
Top 30
18 to 1 (+1800)
$1,900
Top 40
9 to 1 (+900)
$1,000
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Aberg has finished T-10 and T-2 in his last two starts.
The PGA Tour is back in Las Vegas this week for the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin.
The defending champion Tom Kim returns to Sin City hoping to go back-to-back. Since finishing tied for 20th at the Tour Championship, Kim has finished T-18 at the BMW PGA Championship and T-6 at the French Open on the DP World Tour.
He’s joined in the field by European Ryder Cupper Ludvig Aberg — T-2 at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week — Si Woo Kim, Cam Davis, J.T. Poston and Chicken Open winner Luke List.
This week’s winner will earn $1.512 million and 500 FedEx Cup points.
Golf course
TPC Summerlin | Par 71 | 7,255 yards
Patrick Cantlay putts on the 16th green during the final round of the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Course history
Course history at TPC Summerlin for the #ShrinersOpen going back to 2014.
-Includes average finish position and Strokes Gained per round in each category. Players are sorted by SG: Total.
The PGA Tour heads to Vegas with an historic appearance from an LPGA star.
In a few days, the PGA Tour will leave Jackson, Mississippi, and the Sanderson Farms Championship behind for the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
Defending champion Tom Kim returns in an effort to go back-to-back, and he’ll be joined in the field by European Ryder Cupper Ludvig Aberg, Akshay Bhatia, Cam Davis and Webb Simpson.
The highlight of the field, however, is LPGA star Lexi Thompson. The 25th-ranked player in the world, fresh off a Solheim Cup appearance, will tee it up alongside the boys next week on a sponsor exemption.
Here’s the full field for the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open.
Five players that made it to the TOUR Championship, including defending champion Tom Kim, are committed to the Shriners Children’s Open.
Lexi Thompson will make her PGA TOUR debut and become the seventh woman to compete on TOUR.
For years Thompson has seemed like a prime candidate to land a PGA Tour sponsor exemption.
It’s not entirely surprising that Lexi Thompson is the player who will become the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event. She played alongside the men in the QBE Shootout for six years and has two brothers who have held PGA Tour cards. One of the most powerful women in the game, for years Thompson has seemed like a prime candidate to land a PGA Tour sponsor exemption.
That time has come for Thompson, who will tee it up on a sponsor invite at next week’s Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, Golfweek has learned. The event will be played Oct. 12-15 at TPC Summerlin, which last year played 7,255 yards with a par of 71. The field of 132 will compete for a purse of $8.4 million.
That Thompson chose to seize the opportunity this season, however, may raise some eyebrows. But the good news is that her game is trending after a 3-1-0 Solheim Cup performance and her best finish of the season – a share of eighth – at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. It marked her first top-10 finish since November 2022.
“I’m hopeful that my ability to play with the men next week at the Shriners Children’s Open sends a great message to the young women that you can chase your dream regardless of how hard it is,” Thompson said in a statement. “I cannot wait to come to the city of Las Vegas, and I’m grateful to Shriners Children’s for this opportunity to spend the week alongside these inspirational kids.”
Lexi Thompson and Maverick McNealy of the United States fist pump on the seventeenth green during round one of the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club on December 09, 2022, in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
An 11-time winner on the LPGA, the 28-year-old Thompson has grown up on big stages since she first qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 12.
Thompson missed five cuts in a row over the summer and looked like a liability for Team USA when she made the 12-player squad based on her Rolex Ranking. But she undoubtedly found something in the month of September, and it was enough for captain Stacy Lewis to ask Thompson to hit the first tee shot in Spain and anchor her singles lineup on Sunday.
“We are thrilled to welcome Lexi to the 2023 tournament,” said Patrick Lindsey, Executive Director of Shriners Children’s Open. “Shriners Children’s mission is to help all children live their best life regardless of what medical challenges lay in front of them. We are eager to have Lexi on the course and continue to break through barriers, just as our more than 1.5 million patients do every day.”
The history of women competing in official PGA Tour events is short but fascinating. The great Babe Zaharias, the original LPGA needle-mover who was named “Woman Athlete of the 20th Century” by the Associated Press, remains the only female to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, doing so at the 1945 Los Angeles Open.
Annika Sorenstam credits her triumphant but controversial Bank of America Colonial appearance in 2003 as the event that took her game and her drive to another level. Sorenstam missed the cut by four strokes, but that week also took her status in the sports world to a new sphere.
“I left with so much confidence and obviously I took my game to a different level,” Sorenstam told Golf Channel earlier this year. “I worked so much harder and pushed myself. Being under the microscope and playing against the men, it tested every little bone in my body. I told myself if I could handle this pressure, I can handle any pressure. … It was a different me.”
Michelle Wie West came astoundingly close to making the cut at age 14 when she came within a stroke at the 2004 Sony Open after a second-round 68. She’d tee it up seven more times against the men but never made the weekend.
Brittany Lincicome is congratulated by Conrad Shindler after holing out for eagle in the 17th fairway during a continuation of the second round of the Barbasol Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club on July 21, 2018, in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Brittany Lincicome is the most recent woman to receive a PGA Tour sponsor exemption at the 2018 Barbasol Championship. The two-time major winner had a string of three consecutive birdies in the second round as well as a hole-out for eagle on the 17th, but it wasn’t enough to make the cut in soft conditions.
“Just being inside the ropes with the guys, hitting on the range, on the putting green, it’s just a cool feeling,” said Lincicome after her second-round 71. “I feel like I’m at home here. The guys just made me feel so comfortable.”
