Lexi back with a bang
LOS ANGELES: Lexi Thompson earned her first win of the year, shooting a 6-under-par 65 on Sunday to complete a wire-towire victory at the LPGA Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Virginia
In carding her third 65 of the tournament, Lexi breezed to a five-shot victory over Chun InGee of South Korea, finishing at 20-under 264 — a tournament record.
Lexi was playing in her third event since her stunning defeat at the ANA Inspiration, when she was hit with a four-shot penalty during the final round and eventually lost in a playoff in the year’s first major.
Starting her round three shots ahead of the field, Lexi recorded six birdies in her bogey-free round, including a pair at Nos 1 and 3 to pad her lead.
Lexi, ranked fifth in the Rolex World Rankings, notched her first victory on the LPGA Tour since the 2016 Honda LPGA Thailand.
In-Gee also got off to a fast start with three birdies in the first seven holes to whittle the deficit to two shots, but Lexi birdied No 9 and added birdies at the 12th, 14th and 15th to pull away.
It was the third runner-up finish of the season for In-Gee, whose bogeyfree 67 left her four shots in front of the third-place finisher Angela Stanford.
Angela had four birdies and an eagle, at the par-five 15, in her closing round of 66 to finish one shot ahead of Danielle Kang, who finished alone in fourth place at 10-under 274. Carlota Ciganda of Spain carded a 67 to finish in a tie for fifth with Sei Young Kim (71) of South Korea at 275.
World No 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, trying to maintain her 82-week run atop the rankings, stumbled to a 73 and finished in a four-way tie for 10th in a grouping that included second-ranked South Korean Ryu So-yeon (68). Reuters