SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Lexi Thompson couldn’t tell you what the difference between her front nine and back nine was on Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
But she was relieved to have turned it around.
Thompson began the day in a tie for fifth at 3-under total, four shots back of 54-hole leader Amy Yang, but still well within reach of a major championship victory at a challenging Sahalee Country Club.
She opened with a bogey on the par-4 1st hole and then made two more on holes two and three, slipping back to even-par for the tournament. A double bogey on the par-4 4th hole took the wind completely out of Thompson’s sails, and after she bogeyed seven and made another double on eight, it looked like her hopes of a solid finish at Sahalee were completely dashed with 10 holes of golf to play.
But Thompson isn’t someone who just lies down and quits when things get tough.
She got a shot back with a birdie on the par-3 9th hole and then put the pedal down after turning in 43, rattling off three straight birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13 to claw her way back to 1-over total. Thompson struck again with a birdie on the par-4 15th hole, which got her to even-par for the tournament with three holes to play.
After a pair of pars on 16 and 17, the 11-time LPGA Tour winner picked up one last birdie on the par-5 18th hole – much to the delight of the boisterous Sammamish, Wash. crowds – to post at 1-under total and finish in a tie for ninth with Linn Grant, Caroline Inglis, Haeran Ryu and Sarah Schmelzel.
“It wasn't the start that I wanted coming into today, but happy I stayed in it out there and got it to turn around,” said Thompson. “I definitely didn't think 6-under was possible in ten holes out there, but anything is possible with golf, good or bad. It was just a tale of two nines. I hit a great shot on 9 and tried to stay positive with my caddie, Mark (Wallington).
“He was just drilling in the positive comments, even being 8-over through eight, which it's pretty hard to find the positive. He was trying. God bless him. But it's what I need. It was a tough first eight holes. Just never gave up.”
She's chasing her second major title but @Lexi still stopped for some autographs on the way to the first tee 🥹🫶 pic.twitter.com/crR3RmEEss
— LPGA (@LPGA) June 23, 2024
Her T9 showing is the first top-10 result that Thompson has recorded in a major championship since she fell to In Gee Chun at the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club.
And even though her finish at Sahalee was a rollercoaster of a final round, Thompson was proud of her ability to fight back when it looked like all hope was lost, a performance that will be providing the LPGA Tour veteran with a lot of self-belief the next time things are going awry on the golf course.
“It gives me a lot of confidence,” said Thompson. “No matter how bad I'm playing, in my head, I'm never giving up. It's something that I've lived by my whole life. Even though I say that I don't care, it's drilling in my mind, I have to hit a good shot. Something could click, I could make that putt, and then it all just starts clicking. So good or bad, there are so many positives to take from this week, and definitely the bounce back.”
It's the second consecutive week on the LPGA Tour that Thompson has found herself in the top 10 after 72 holes. And after coming off a T2 finish at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give that saw her in a three-hole playoff with Grace Kim and eventually champion Lilia Vu, it’s clear to Thompson that she is once again trending in the right direction with an important slate of tournaments coming up this summer.
“The positives are outweighing the negatives of today, of course, because of how I came back and how I fought and never gave up,” Thompson said. “I played great golf last week and brought that into this week and hitting some really solid golf shots again, which is what I've been working on and what I've been practicing my butt off (on). Rolling it good, so going to continue to work hard and continue to build on it.”
Thompson announced at the U.S. Women’s Open a few weeks ago that she would be retiring from full-time professional golf at the end of the 2024 season, a revelation that has seemed to free up her play in recent weeks.
If this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee was indeed her last as an active LPGA Tour member, making six birdies in her final 10 holes was a pretty impressive way for Thompson to go out at this major championship.
While the two-time Olympian was bummed to not play her way into the field in Paris for the 2024 Games, Thompson’s summer schedule is already pretty filled out with LPGA Tour events. She will make her next start at the Dow Championship, playing alongside 13-time LPGA Tour winner Brooke Henderson in Midland, Mich., as the pair look to redeem themselves after missing the cut in the 2023 edition of the tournament.
And Thompson, as she continues her farewell tour, will be looking to ride the momentum she has generated with her strong performances over the last couple of weeks as she works to capture that elusive 12th LPGA Tour title before the sun sets on an already storied career as a pro athlete.
“I love Brooke. She's so nice and I think we make a good team,” said Thompson. “I’m definitely looking forward to a more relaxed week and more team format, which I absolutely love as part of golf because we don't get to do it very often. But just going to build on it. I have a few weeks off after that week, so going to continue to work on what I am now and hopefully keep on improving."
