THOMPSON IN ACTION FOLLOWING LAST WEEK’S WIN
Top-ranked American Lexi Thompson will tee it up this week in Ann Arbor fresh off of a record-setting performance at last week’s Kingsmill Championship.
Thompson went wire-to-wire and finished at 20-under par for her eighth career LPGA victory, besting Annika Sorenstam’s tournament scoring record of 19-under par in 2008 in the process.
Thompson had been knocking on the door all season long with two runner-up finishes coming after appearing in playoffs at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic and the ANA Inspiration, and her hard work certainly paid off in Williamsburg.
“I worked extremely hard in the offseason, especially on my short game just trying to improve that a lot more and get more consistent off the tee,” Thompson said. “And it’s just been a lot of confidence, too. Golf is a lot mental, so just trying to stay positive out on the golf course and knowing my game is in a good spot and keep on working at it.”
Click here for Lexi Thompson’s 2017 LPGA Tournament Results.
WEDGE WORK
A key to Lexi Thompson’s victory last week was the addition of a fifth wedge to her bag. Last week, Thompson took out her 5-iron and added a 47-degree wedge to help her in the 120-yard range.
“I always get about 120 and that’s -- I hit my gap wedge 115 and my pitching wedge 135. So it’s a very easy pitching wedge and it’s kind of an uncomfortable shot. It doesn’t stop very well because it’s lower. So I added that wedge and I actually hit it probably close to 20 times last week, so it was a good move.”
Thompson said she may replace a different club with the 47-degree wedge this week, as Travis Pointe has a few par 3s where she might need the 5-iron.
BY THE NUMBERS
Lexi Thompson earned her eighth LPGA victory at the Kingsmill Championship presented by JTBC, and has recorded five wins in her last four seasons - the most of any American player in that span.
Thompson’s eighth LPGA victory came at the age of 22 years, 3 months, 11 days. If she were to collect two more wins in the coming months she could become the third youngest player in LPGA history to reach 10 career victories.
Youngest to reach 10 wins (LPGA History)
- Lydia Ko, 18 years, 6 months, 1 day, 2015 Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship
- Nancy Lopez, 22 years, 2 months, 5 days, 1979 Sunstar Classic
- Yani Tseng, 22 years, 6 months, 8 days, 2011 RICOH Women’s British Open
- Marlene Hagge, 22 years, 6 months, 10 days, 1956 Denver Open
NO. 1 SCENARIOS THIS WEEK
Lydia Ko is not playing this week, opening the door for either No. 2 So Yeon Ryu or No. 3 Ariya Jutanugarn to take over the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
So Yeon Ryu could take over No. 1 if any of the following scenarios happen (5th or better finish):
- Ryu wins
- Ryu is 2nd alone AND Ariya does not win
- Ryu is 3rd alone AND Ariya is not in the top 2
- Ryu is 4th alone AND Ariya is not in the top 2
- Ryu is 5th alone AND Ariya is not in the top 3
There are several other possible scenarios when factoring in ties at positions:
- Ryu is T-2nd with 1 other AND Ariya does not win
- Ryu is T-2nd with 2 others AND Ariya does not win
- Ryu is T-2nd with 3 others AND Ariya does not win
- Ryu is T-3rd with 1 other AND Ariya is not in the top 2
- Ryu is T-3rd with 2 others AND Ariya is not in the top 2
- Ryu is T-4th with 1 other AND Ariya is not in the top 3
- Ryu is T-4th with 2 others AND Ariya is not in the top 3
- Ryu is T-4th with 3 others AND Ariya is not in the top 3
- Ryu is T-5th with 1 other AND Ariya is not in the top 3
- Ryu is T-5th with 2 others AND Ariya is not in the top 3
Ariya Jutanugarn could take over No. 1 if any of the following scenarios happen (3rd or better finish):
- Ariya wins
- Ariya is 2nd alone AND Ryu does not win
- Ariya is 3rd alone AND Ryu is not in the top 4
Possible scenarios with ties:
- Ariya is T-2nd with 1 other AND Ryu is not in the top 3
- Ariya is T-2nd with 2 others AND Ryu is not in the top 3
- Ariya is T-2nd with 3 others AND Ryu is not in the top 4
- Ariya is T-3rd with 1 other AND Ryu is not in the top 5
NO. 1 FACTS:
- Nine different golfers have been No. 1 in their career since the Rolex Rankings started in 2006: Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa, Jiyai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr, Yani Tseng, Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park, Lydia Ko.
- Seven different countries have held the top spot: Sweden, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, United States, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand.
- South Korea (Jiyai Shin, Inbee Park) and the United States (Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis) each have had two players reach No. 1.
NO. 1 NUMBERS TO KNOW:
- 158: The number of consecutive weeks Lorena Ochoa held the top spot from April 23, 2007 to May 2, 2010. Yani Tseng holds the second longest streak at 109 weeks. Third best is Lydia Ko’s current streak of 83 consecutive weeks starting from Oct. 26, 2015.
- 102: Total number of weeks Lydia Ko has held the top spot. Two weeks shy of two full calendar years.
- 32: Number of majors won by the nine players to hold the No. 1 spot. Annika Sorenstam won 10 major championships. Ai Miyazato is the only No. 1 player who hasn’t won a major in their career.
TOUR STILL SEARCHING FOR FIRST MULTIPLE WINNER OF 2017
The LPGA Volvik Championship is the 12th event of 2017 and the Tour is still looking for the first repeat winner of the season. In 1991, there was not a multiple tournament winner until the 16th event of the year.
Between 1991 and 2017, the Tour had its first repeat winner on the 10th try several times, but 1991 is the last time it went more than 10 events to have a player reach two wins on the year.
In 1985, the first repeat winner came in the 11th event, which is the only other time in history the Tour has gone this far without a repeat winner.
QUOTABLE
“I’ve had a good amount of fans, but I absolutely love my fans. They’re amazing. I’ve definitely gotten a lot more since the incident, but they’re always so supportive of me. Even if I struggle, they’re there picking me up saying ‘go get ‘em’ the next week or the next day. That means a lot to me. The fans do make the game, and to have them supporting me means the world.”- Lexi Thompson on her fan support
QUICK HITS
- Lexi Thompson will be looking to win back-to-back for the first time in her career at the LPGA Volvik Championship. Her best finish after a win is T-6th (2015 TOTO Japan Classic, 2014 North Texas LPGA Shootout presented by JTBC).
- Lexi Thompson has won an event in each of the past five seasons (2013-2017) - the longest streak on the LPGA Tour. Lydia Ko, who is winless in 2017, led the LPGA heading into the 2017 season with wins in five consecutive seasons dating back to 2012 (2012-2016).
- Lexi Thompson is currently second behind So Yeon Ryu in the Rolex Player of the Year race with 73 points - her best finish in the standings was 4th place in 2015 when she recorded two of her eight LPGA wins.
- Lexi Thompson ranks first on the LPGA in greens in regulation in 2017 (80.74%).
- Lexi Thompson ranks first in the Team USA Solheim Cup points standings with 552 points, 174.5 points more than the next closest player (Stacy Lewis, 377.5 points).
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