Lanto Griffin, Cameron Champ lead at Shriners Children's Open; Lexi Thompson falls short in her PGA TOUR debut

LAS VEGAS — 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 cusp of history.

Thompson was 4 under on her round with seven holes to play. In her sights was a chance to become 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.

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 12-under 130. Henrik Norlander (64) was another shot behind, with RBC Canadian Open champion Nick Taylor (67) and two-time PGA TOUR winner J.T. Poston (69) two behind.

Champ spoke about his newfound mindset of enjoyment after his round, saying, "Yeah, I think it's something I've been trying to grasp around for a while. I just never really allow myself to do that. I've had conversations with my wife, with my coach. I'm just like, if I don't enjoy it, why do it. For me, I knew there had to be a change because I wasn't enjoying myself, didn't want to be out here, and again, I've loved the game forever. It's given me everything. So I know it's not that I don't love the game. It's just I'm taking it out on myself.

"Again, for me it's just being more positive, being more put the work in, and just dig deep. That's all we can do. Just kind of believe in myself a little more. I know what I'm capable of when I'm free-spirited. It's been at home for the last probably year and a half."

Griffin, who has dealt with a lower back injury and fractured rib in the past 18 months, leads the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green and Strokes Gained: Putting this week.

"It's amazing what a hot putter will do. It makes the rest of the game -- takes a lot of pressure off," he said after Friday's round. "You don't need to hit it to five feet -- well, some weeks this summer I felt like I needed to hit it to two feet to make it. It's nice seeing those 10- to 20-footers go in, and that takes a lot of heat off the rest of the game.

"At the beginning of the week last week I would have been happy with 28th with the way that I've been playing. Now we're going to push it, and obviously I have a good shot this weekend. But try and put all those feelings and thoughts out of the way and just try and take it one at a time. It's cliche, but it's a hard game when you've got five hours to think, and there's so many things going through your head, medical -- I haven't played well in a while, I'm playing well, I need to do this. Just being able to put that on the back burner and just take care of what's in front of you is important."