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
[gambcom-standard rankid=”3413″ ]
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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.”
Everything you need to know for the final round in Las Vegas.
It’s time for the final 18 in Sin City.
TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, ranked No. 4 last year on Golfweek’s Best list of private courses in Nevada, plays host to the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open this week, and will play to 7,255 yards with a par of 71. It’s the third PGA Tour event of the 2022-23 season.
Patrick Cantlay and Tom Kim apparently want to continue the Presidents Cup on the other side of the country. They’re tied for the lead and three shots clear of the chasers heading to the final round. Cantlay shot 60 in the third round and barely missed his putt for 59, but Kim himself shot 62.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s what you need to know for the final round of the Shriners Children’s Open. All times Eastern.
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Here’s what we learned from the third round in Las Vegas.
If Saturday was any indication, Sunday is going to be a heckuva finale in Las Vegas.
Moving day lived up to its mantra on Saturday at TPC Summerlin in the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open. There was a course record-tying round. There were numerous birdies and hardly any bogeys. Past champions are in the mix, and a young star is looking for yet another statement early in his career.
There’s plenty of golf left to be played, and with how many birdies and scoring chances there are in Vegas, there’s no telling who can come out on top Sunday evening. Yet the pair at the top could be a thrilling show themselves.
Here’s what you missed on moving day from Sin City.
Las Vegas has been a staple of the PGA Tour since 1983.
LAS VEGAS — It has had ten different names. It has been played on 12 different golf courses. It has been held in March, May and October. But whatever it has been called and wherever it has been played, a stop in Las Vegas has been a staple on the PGA Tour for 39 years.
So what does the future hold for the Shriners Children’s Open?
The Tour has had a wrap-around schedule, starting in September and ending in August, for eight years.
But what’s old is new again, so beginning in 2024, the Tour will return to its calendar-year schedule format, with the season starting in January like it used to do.
That means 2023, which will also mark the 40th anniversary of the first regular PGA Tour stop in Las Vegas, could very well be the end of the fall series as fans know it now.
A view of the 16th green and 17th tee box at TPC Summerlin for the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas. (Photo: Todd Kelly/Golfweek)
Patrick Lindsey, in his eighth year as tournament director of the Shriners Children’s Open, is optimistic about the future.
“Ultimately, we have really two great things that are going on for us. One we have, we have a great title sponsor. The mission of the charity is awesome,” he said. “We also live in this incredible market in this destination of Las Vegas. So talking with players, they’re like, ‘Listen, we love Las Vegas, we love Shriners, we’d love just being there. We are always going to kind of schedule your event and be here and be a part of it’, so that made me feel a little bit better about the direction.”
Count Max Homa among them.
“I’m not sure that the future of all these, I don’t know what changes when we don’t have a wraparound season,” he said. “I would imagine that the events would still do all right because, like I said, I think a decent amount of us are still very excited about the events that we would play.”
A year ago, Shriners Hospitals for Children signed a five-year extension as title sponsor through 2026. As for the tournament itself, there are no plans to go anywhere. Lindsey says they like their spot in the fall.
“In this climate that we’re in, it’s built to have this event in the fall, because we don’t overseed and the growing process and winter in the spring being very light, they would have to, my opinion, change some agronomy standards of this golf course,” said Lindsey. “So really, this tournament works out great being in the fall, because we have the whole summer growing season to get the course exactly how we want it for the PGA Tour event, the first week of October.”
Matt Wallace putts on the eighth green during the first round of the 2022 Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. (Photo: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
As the LIV Golf Series eyes expansion, there is some internet chatter about Greg Norman and Co. perhaps trying to pick off one of the PGA Tour’s fall events, maybe due to the notion that a fall Tour event may not want to risk facing diminished status or a weaker field.
But since the Shriners is staged on a TPC course, “it won’t happen here,” Lindsey said, adding that no one from LIV Golf has contacted him or anyone else at his tournament, nor would he take the call even if they did.
Two recent past champs of the Shriners—Bryson DeChambeau and Kevin Na—won’t ever be back, due to their defections to LIV, and Lindsey did sound a bit bummed about that.
“I respect the guys that left, disappointed that they left,” he said. “I have no problem with that. I wish they were here, you know, I wish they hadn’t moved but you know, still appreciate those guys and what they have done for Shriners.”
The big picture for the Vegas stop is keeping the event in a burgeoning sports market.
“This is a great sports town,” said Chesson Hadley. “It’s becoming more and more of a phenomenal sports town. I mean, the next 10 years—they’ve got hockey and football—there’s going to be basketball and baseball here.”
Jim Furyk, who won three of his 17 PGA Tour titles in Las Vegas, has fond memories.
“When I started playing, Las Vegas was one of four bigger purses,” he said. “The first time I won in 1995, the purse was $1.5 million and lot of the purses at that time were $1 million. It’s Las Vegas, right? It had a lot of buzz.
“I know it’s in the fall now. … three of my first four victories came there so I always have a soft spot for it. I hope to see it on the schedule in the future. I really do.”
Garry Smits from the Florida Times-Union contributed to this article.
