After faltering in Open, Thompson right back at it
This might not offer solace to Lexi Thompson, but Arnold Palmer recovered from his Olympic Club heartbreak.
It didn’t happen immediately — Palmer went eight starts without winning after he blew a sevenshot lead in the U.S. Open at Olympic in June 1966 — but then he won a PGA Tour event in Houston in November.
He also won four times in 1967 and twice more in ’68.
The flip side: Palmer didn’t earn another major championship after his memorable collapse on the rugged Lake Course. But he was 36 at the time, and Thompson is a full decade younger. She has time on her side.
This seems relevant because Thompson will jump right back
into the fray. Four days after she let a fiveshot lead slip away in Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Women’s Open, she will tee it up again Thursday in the LPGA Mediheal Championship at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City.
That’s a quick turnaround, no question. So Yeon Ryu, a sixtime LPGA winner (including two majors), was asked how she dealt with finalround disappointment, and Ryu acknowledged she found, “For me, the best way is not thinking about golf and not even touching a club.”
Thompson will try to salve her wounds on the course.
“I’m sure it’s going to be really tough for her (Thursday), especially when you just slipped at the U.S. Women’s Open, not a regular tournament,” Ryu said this week. “But I think she’s been a professional golfer long enough to know how to figure it out. So I’m sure she’s going to put her best effort to playing really well this week. …
“Last week was not our last U.S. Women’s Open. Lexi still has plenty of time to play in the Open.”
Thompson’s backnine 41 on Sunday was difficult to watch, especially after she played so well during her first 31⁄2 rounds at the Olympic Club. She took the lead with a sensational 66 on Saturday, the only bogeyfree round all week.
“No matter what happened,
nobody can take away how great Lexi played, especially on Saturday. That was absolutely incredible,” twotime major champion Lydia Ko said. “I’m sure there may be disappointment, but she still played incredible golf.”
Thompson moved from No. 9 to No. 7 in this week’s world ranking. Yuka Saso, the teenager from the Philippines who won the Women’s Open, soared from No. 40 to No. 9. Saso accepted LPGA membership after her victory Sunday, but she’s not in the field this week.
One other takeaway from the Olympic Club, as the tour moves down the street to Lake Merced, was the striking parade of youth. Saso is 19; runnerup Nasa Hataoka is 22; Megan Khang, who tied for fourth, is 23.
Also don’t forget Megha
Ganne, the 17yearold, Stanfordbound amateur from New Jersey who stayed in contention through Saturday and tied for 14th. Or Redwood City’s Lucy Li, 18, who played well all week and finished one stroke behind Ganne (tied for 16th). Li is in the field at Lake Merced on a sponsor exemption.
This wave of fresh faces made an impression on Ryu, 30, who won the U.S. Women’s Open 10 years ago. She pointed to the meticulous preparation and increasing power of the younger generation.
“When I was young, I didn’t really know anything about the science behind golf,” Ryu said. “I never really learned about what clubhead speed you need. … The younger generation already knows how to train better, swing better and hit longer.”
Or, as Ko said of the parade of youngsters to shine at Olympic, “Super impressive. It’s great to see different names and new names, and I’m sure they are names we’re going to see a lot in the future.”