Lexi Thompson posted her second bogey-free round of the week on Saturday at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. With less wind to deal with than her previous rounds, the major champion played another consistent round of golf to finish -4 on the day and -14 total, just four strokes out of the lead. Thompson sits in solo fourth ahead of championship Sunday and plans to attack the golf course just as she has the past three rounds.
“I play this golf course pretty aggressively. Hit a lot of drivers, take a lot of corners on. So, I’m probably not going to play it any more aggressively (tomorrow), except maybe fire at a few more pins,” she said.
Thompson ranks eighth on the LPGA Tour this season in average driving distance, making Blythefield Country Club and its five par 5s a great place to be aggressive. Ahead of the week in Michigan, Thompson was leading the Tour in greens in regulation (76.1%), and though she’s missed a handful so far this week, her scrambling has served her well through three rounds.
“(Scrambling's) very important here,” Thompson said. “It’s unfortunate, but you have to scramble because you're not going to have your a-game ball striking-wise each and every shot. It's a matter of just staying patient and going into the next shot with a positive attitude knowing you can pull it off, get your par and get off the hole.”
With all aspects of her game coming together, as they have been all season, Thompson is primed to earn her second Meijer LPGA Classic title and notch her first Tour win since 2019. The 11-time LPGA champion has come in second twice in 2022, at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Crown Colony and the Cognizant Founders Cup, but she doesn’t focus too much on when her next win will come. She’s more focused on having fun, enjoying the large gallery of supporters and playing golf “freely.”
“Honestly, I don’t think about the stretch of whatever that I haven't won,” she said. “It really doesn't matter to me. I'm going into every event wanting to win. It really gets you nowhere when you put expectations on yourself. I hope that a lot of people come out and support and I just go out, play a nice, free, relaxed round, and have a good time. I try my best. That's all I can do.”
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