For the second consecutive week, Lexi Thompson had a back-nine lead on Sunday but fell short of bringing home a trophy. Sunday, she shot 73 in a tough final round, finishing one shot shy of eventual winner In Gee Chun, whom Thompson caught and surpassed on the opening nine.
Thompson declined to speak with the media following Sunday’s final round and was visibly upset with the day’s result. On Saturday, following a round of 70 that included a 3-under 33 on the back nine – five shots better than Sunday – she had vowed that she would not be spending the final round trying to find and look at leaderboards. When did she stop looking at boards?
“I can't put a date on it, but I just realized, I mean, same thing with the mental state,” she said. “Looking at leaderboards does me no good, honestly, so really just focusing on my score, my shot at hand. That's all I can do.”
The uber-talented Thompson now has gone 51 starts without winning on the LPGA. Her last victory came at the 2019 ShopRite Classic. Her runner-up finish on Sunday at Congressional was her 13th second place showing in that span of winless starts. So she certainly has been knocking on the door.
Thompson was trying to join some nice history on Sunday. Cristie Kerr, who grew up in South Florida as Thompson did, and South Korea’s Inbee Park had been the only players to win a KPMG Women’s PGA Championship while also winning the Girls Junior PGA Championship. Thompson twice won the Girls Junior PGA, doing it for the first time in 2007, when she was 12 years old, becoming the event’s youngest winner. That year, Thompson birdied four of five hoes down the stretch to earn a one-shot victory, shooting 1-under 283 at Westfield Group Country Club in Westfield Center, Ohio. She also won the event two years later at age 14.
SHORT SHOTS: Jeongeun Lee5 finished off her tournament in style, holing her approach with a wedge for an eagle-2 at the difficult par-4 18th hole. Her ball pitched just short of the right side of the green, kicked left, and rolled some 25 feet into the cup. She shot 74 to finish her tournament at 3-over 291. ... Defending champion Nelly Korda, who made the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA her first major title, birdied two of her last three holes to shoot 75, finishing her defense at 4-over. ... Lydia Ko, who started the day with an outside chance at winning, made her only birdie of the day at the 18th hole, shooting 79. ... Future sites of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship that have been announced: 2023, Baltusrol (Lower), Springfield, N.J.; 2025, PGA Frisco, Frisco, Texas; and 2027, Congressional, Bethesda, Maryland.
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