Thompson falls short of PGA cut late
Lexi Thompson delivered star-power moments built for a stage like Las Vegas, and when she poured in a pair of long birdie putts Friday, she was on the verge of history.
Thompson was 4 under with seven holes to play. She was on the verge of becoming the first woman in 78 years to make a 36-hole cut on the PGA Tour.
One poor swing, one mediocre chip, and one missed putt at the end left her on the outside of the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open, but no less proud of two days she won’t soon forget. She wanted to inspire kids to chase their dreams, and she did all of that at the TPC Summerlin.
“Playing with the guys — amazing feeling,” Thompson said after a 2-under 69. “Growing up with guys, I’ve always wanted to be out on a PGA Tour event and tee it up. But the biggest thing was seeing the kids out there outside the ropes and then meeting a few of the Shriners ambassadors. That was the most special.”
Thompson made five birdies in a 10-hole stretch, only to make two bogeys toward the end and missing a 6-foot birdie putt on her final hole. She had rounds of 73-69 to finish at even-par 142, missing the cut by three shots.
Lanto Griffin ran off five straight birdies for a 66, while Cameron Champ had a 67 in the morning wave. They shared the lead at 12under 130. Henrik Norlander (64) was another shot behind, with Canadian Open champion Nick Taylor (67) and J.T. Poston (69) two behind.
“Very proud. I played really well today,” said Thompson, who hit 12 of 14 fairways and only missed four greens. “As the day went on, I tried to stay committed to my targets out there and to my swing thoughts and just enjoyed the whole experience.”
Her 69 was one short of the record by a female on the PGA Tour — Michelle Wie twice shot 68 in the Sony Open, once as a 14-yearold when she missed the cut by one shot.
“I knew I had to play my ‘A’ game,” Thompson said, adding that golf was only part of her being in Las Vegas. “Just coming into the week there was more of a message than just playing golf. To inspire the kids, that's what I enjoy most.”
This was never about winning. Thompson was 11 shots out of the lead after the first round. She finished in a tie for 85th in the 132-player field.
LIV — Marc Leishman played bogey-free and posted a 5-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka at LIV Golf-Jeddah in Saudia Arabia, the final individual tournament of the LIV Golf League this year.
Harold Varner III also had a 66 on a warm day in which 21 players from the 48-man league managed to break par.
Cameron Smith leads the points race over Talor Gooch. Both opened with a 70 at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.
European — Jon Rahm made the cut by one stroke after a round of 1-over 72 that left him in a tie for 45th, eight shots behind leader Matthieu Pavon in the Spanish Open in Madrid. It gives him a difficult task this weekend as he aims to surpass Seve Ballesteros by winning a fourth title at the home tournament.
Pavon, who was runner-up to Rahm last year in Madrid, followed up his opening-day 63 with a 68 for an 11-under total of 131. Wil Besseling and Shubhankar Sharma were one shot back in a tie for second at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
Justin Rose, who was the only other player beside Rahm in the top 50 at the tournament, shot 67 to sit seven shots back of Pavon.
LPGA — First-round co-leader Maja Stark of Sweden took the lead on her own with a 4-under 68 that left her with a one-stroke lead after two rounds at the LPGA Shanghai tournament.
Stark had a two-round total of 10-under 134 on the Qizhong Garden Golf Club course in the LPGA’s first return to China since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two-time defending champ Danielle Kang of the United States and Yu Liu of China, who both shot 67 in wet conditions, were tied for second.