Lexi Thompson became the seventh woman to play on the PGA Tour, shooting a 1-over par through 16 holes and finishing tied for 76th before the first round of the Shriners Children’s Open was suspended due to darkness on Thursday at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
When play resumes at 7:45 a.m. PT on Friday, Thompson will have a 20-foot, 8-inch putt for par on No. 17.
“I played decent,” Thompson said. “I had one bad hole and a few iffy shots. But it’s golf. It was kind of expected.”
Thompson, 28, started strong, making par on her first hole and then knocking down a birdie on the par-4 second. However, she gave the stroke back with a bogey at the third hole.
The 11-time LPGA Tour winner ran into trouble on the par-4 seventh hole, where she double-bogeyed, and she bogeyed the eighth hole before rebounding with a birdie at No. 9.
“I knew (on No.) 9 I could get a birdie as long as I hit that fairway,” Thompson said. “I knew I could get 3-wood up close to the front of the green and make birdie there. Hit a good drive and just really stayed committed to that 3-wood. Tried to make eagle, but definitely take a birdie.”
Thompson continued that momentum on the back nine, shooting 1 under before play was suspended. She birdied the par-5 13th hole with a 7-foot putt but missed a 9-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th hole.
“It’s been great so far this whole week,” Thompson said. “Everybody has been so welcoming and just a huge honor just to be able to tee it up here. There’s more to it than just golf. Shriners does amazing things for these kids, so I’m happy to be out here and supporting them in any way I can.”
The top 65 and ties make the cut after the second round of the tournament. If Thompson, who is one shot below the cutline, makes the cut, it would be the first time a woman did so on the PGA Tour since Babe Zaharias accomplished the feat in 1945.
Thompson is the first LPGA Tour player on the men’s tour since Brittany Lincicome competed in the 2018 Barbasol Championship.
Thompson, who has not won on the LPGA Tour since 2019, has struggled most of this season but has found her footing recently. In her past three tournaments, she tied for 19th at the Kroger Queen City Championship, tied for eighth at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and finished fifth at last week’s The Ascendant LPGA.
–Field Level Media
