Lexi Thompson bounces back with 69, ends monumental week at Shriners Children's Open at even par

LAS VEGAS – It was long past when Lexi Thompson hit her last putt, but there she was, about 100 yards from the ninth hole at TPC Summerlin, signing autographs for a large crowd that had waited around.

She made her way through the group. A young girl asked her to sign a golf ball. Then, a hat, a shirt and a flag. Then, she asked for a selfie. Thompson happily obliged. Soon after, about six older women called out, “Do you sign for senior women, too?” The answer, of course, was yes.

She spent the next 20 minutes doing the rounds, smiling through what was surely a tinge of disappointment. Thompson came to the Children’s Shriners Open to inspire. She would do that regardless of how she played. She was just the seventh woman to compete in a PGA TOUR event. And the scene that greeted her after the various media stops was evidence of her impact. So were the galleries that followed her play, which several TOUR pros remarked were the largest of any they saw all week.

But Thompson also wanted to make the cut, a feat not done by a woman on TOUR since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945. She came oh-so-close to doing that, too.

Thompson bounced back from an opening-round 73 and pushed herself as low as 4 under for her second round, 2 under for the tournament. But bogeys on Nos. 5 and 8, two of her final five holes, derailed those hopes. She settled for a 2-under 69, just the second sub-70 score by a woman in PGA TOUR history. Michelle Wie West shot 68 during the second round of the 2006 Sony Open. At even par, she is not expected to make the weekend.

“It was a special week,” Thompson said. “Obviously, the two rounds were very special, but to be out here, play with the men and just to see the kids alongside cheering my name and hopefully inspiring those kids to follow their dreams.”

It was one of Thompson’s dreams to play on the PGA TOUR. Her brothers, Nicholas and Curtis, have both held TOUR cards. She watched as some of her modern peers, Annika Sorenstam and Wie West, competed against the men. But the chance had never come for Thompson until this week. It was an emotional rollercoaster, from accepting the sponsor exemption less than two weeks ago to arriving on-site in Las Vegas. She met with Shriners ambassadors and put on teaching clinics, all while prepping for her first TOUR start.

“I knew I had to play my A-game,” she said.

That game came out during Friday’s second round. After bogeying her first hole of the day, No. 10, she birdied five of her next 10 holes. That included two monstrous drives: a 314-yard bomb on the par-5 13th that led to birdie, then a drive that found the green on the 296-yard, par-4 15th. She made two birdie putts over 20 feet on Nos. 1 and 2 before those two bogeys cost her a chance at history.

That didn’t mute any enthusiasm. The crowds followed Thompson to the finish. She gave her eagle chip on the par-5 ninth a scare, the ball rolling just inches from the pin before settling 7 feet away. She gave high-fives as she walked toward the clubhouse and stopped to give out a hug or two.

“Seeing the people out there and hearing the cheers and seeing all the little kids, that's what I play for,” Thompson said. “I think I said that on the last hole. A little kid screamed out, ‘Go Lexi, you're great,’ and that just makes my day. No matter what I'm shooting, I could shoot 80, and they'd be like, you did great. That's what it's all about.”

Thompson said she was “very proud” of her effort. Known as one of the longest hitters on the LPGA, Thompson averaged 301.2 yards off the tee. She hit 20/28 fairways, among the top 15 through two rounds.

“I was impressed,” said Trevor Werbylo, who played alongside Thompson and is 8 under after two rounds. “She hits the ball really good. Yeah, it was fun seeing her make a run today.”

Thompson’s near miss on the cutline makes it the third close call by a woman on TOUR in the last 20 years.

Sorenstam competed in the 2003 Charles Schwab Challenge as the No. 1 player in the women’s game. She shot 71 in the opening round to sit one shot outside the cut line. Sorenstam missed the cut after a second-round 74 but said 10 years later, “It was a turning point for me. It’s one of the highlights of my career.”

Wie West missed the cut by just a single stroke in her PGA TOUR debut at the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii. It was the first of eight PGA TOUR starts for Wie West, who won five times on the LPGA, including the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open. Wie West retired from competitive golf at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

“It just inspires those other young girls that are watching her just to help grow the game in women's golf,” said Cameron Champ, who is 12 under through two rounds.

Thompson, just 28 years old, said she was open to playing in more TOUR events. Given how the first attempt went, it may just happen. Thompson hopes any invite would come not because of her performance but of her impact.

“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,” she said. “That was the most special.”