BELLEAIR, Fla. — Lexi Thompson likes Pelican Golf Club, a fact that was further evidenced on Thursday during round one of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. The Florida native fired a bogey-free, 6-under 64 to kick off her week in Belleair, Fla., making six birdies, four of which came in a five-hole stretch on the front nine.
Thompson started the day on No. 10, grabbing a birdie early on the par-3 12th hole and picking up another on the par-5 14th hole to move to 2-under and ultimately turn in 33. She then had a barrage of birdies on the first five holes of her final nine, making birdie on holes 1, 3, 4 and 5 to get to 6-under overall. The 11-time LPGA Tour winner closed out the round with four consecutive pars to post at 6-under and sit two back of the first-round lead held by Brooke Henderson, her playing partner at this year’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.
The 64 is her lowest 18-hole score of the 2023 LPGA Tour season, and it’s the first time that she has recorded a round of 64 or better since the first round of the 2022 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. It’s the third time that Thompson has shot a round of 64 or better at Pelican Golf Club, having also done so during the second round in 2021, and the 64 is her lowest first-round score of the year, besting her previous benchmark of 65, which she last shot on day one of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, by one shot.
As a whole, Thompson was incredibly pleased with her performance on Thursday at The ANNIKA and credited her solid showings at both the Solheim Cup and the Shriners Children’s Open – where she became the seventh woman in history to tee it up on the PGA Tour – as the reasons for her renewed self-belief this late in the season.
“Both (events) did extreme amounts for my confidence, just being able to play aggressive golf,” said Thompson. “(The) Solheim Cup is just so much pressure being able to play for your country, and being able to pull off shots under that kind of pressure, that means a lot and does a lot for your confidence when do you so.
“To go to Shriners and be able to rip driver everywhere and hit it as long as I can and take advantage of that, really just see how my ball striking was and put it to a test, I enjoyed every bit of it, especially being with the kids. It did more for me mentally, I think, than anything.”
The 2017 Race to CME Globe champion currently finds herself in an unfamiliar spot as she’s on the outside looking in for next week’s CME Group Tour Championship. Thompson was sitting at 88th ahead of this week’s event, needing to move up at least 28 spots to qualify for the season-ending tournament in Naples, Fla., at Tiburón Golf Club.
Her Thursday 64 has her projected to move up 10 spots in the Race to the CME Globe to No. 78, and Thompson knows it will take more of the same over the next three rounds to claw her way into the top 60. She’ll also be looking to finally break through at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican after finishing runner-up twice in her three previous appearances at Pelican Golf Club, a victory that would be her first since the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer.
But the storied veteran knows better than to think that far ahead. Instead, with 54 more holes on deck at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, Thompson is planning to focus on her process and continue to eliminating some of the self-doubt she has felt after what’s been a challenging season, one that the 28-year-old has been working hard to turn around in her recent LPGA Tour starts.
“I think I got to a point to where I wasn't really trusting myself. I think with what I'm working on with my coach, Tony, and really focusing in on that, on each and every shot and just believing in that, I think that's the biggest thing. And then rolling a few putts on top of it always helps,” said Thompson, who has only earned two top-10 finishes this year, both of which came in her last two appearances in LPGA Tour competition. “I'm sure it'll be great weather the next few days, so come out with the same game plan today and fire at the pins and do my pre-shot routine on every shot and commit to my lines, and that's all I can do. Give myself as many birdie opportunities as I can.”
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