Lexi Thompson makes first ace in Grant Thornton Invitational history

NAPLES, Fla. — It’s a week of firsts for many at the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples, Florida. It’s the first co-sanctioned mixed-team PGA TOUR-LPGA Tour event in over two decades. It was the first time that many of the players had actually seen each other playing in person. And, in second-round Foursomes play, Lexi Thompson carded the first ace in tournament history.

Partnering with Rickie Fowler at Tiburón Golf Club, Thompson propelled her team up the leaderboard with a perfectly flighted 7-iron from 155 yards at the par-3 16th. Fowler needed no putter as the ball bounced once and jumped into the cup for a hole-in-one and Thompson's 11th of her career.

"Definitely up there, probably one of my highest because I've only had about four in competition with crowds, with a good amount of crowds, so there was a lot of people around that tee box," Thompson said after the round. "It was nice to high-five everybody and hear all the cheers. I can't wait to watch the video of it later probably. Definitely a good feeling. I mean, hitting a golf shot or making a putt and just committing to it and seeing the shot at hand and really just pulling it off, it's always a great feeling."

When asked about the strategy for Thompson hitting off most par 3s, Fowler joked: "It worked out good, she made a one."

The ace was part of a back-nine 5-under 31 which helped the team recover from a slow start. The pair opened with two bogeys in the first three holes in the alternate shot format but right the ship with a birdie at the par-4 ninth to set up the back-nine run.

"When we made the birdie on nine it was kind of just like that finally got us going a bit," Fowler said. "Then once we made a couple more, Lexi hit a great shot into 11, she had another good one into 12, I made a good putt. Just kind of got some momentum going. So at that point it's not really thinking too much about score, it's more just keep going."

Chasing the overnight leaders Nelly Korda-Tony Finau, who started the day four shots ahead of the Cobra-Puma duo, the second-round Foursomes format allowed ground to be made up and close in. Thompson-Fowler signed for a second-round 4-under 68 and sits T4 at 16 under for the tournament, trailing Lydia Ko-Jason Day heading into the final-day Modified Four-Ball format.

"We thought it through a little bit coming into today, but we made two bogeys and ended up shooting 4 under, so we'll definitely take it with alternate shot," Thompson expressed. "We haven't really played each other's ball too much, but they're pretty similar, so going into the rounds we weren't worried about that factor, which is nice. I just try to get them in the fairway. He's hitting his irons amazing and he rolled some really great putts out there, so overall solid for us."

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Lexi Thompson at a PGA TOUR event this year though. The 11-time LPGA Tour winner teed it up at the Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin during the FedExCup Fall. Thompson shot a second-round two-under 69 in Las Vegas, to become just the second sub-70 score by a woman in PGA TOUR history.

Thompson has won before at Tiburón Golf Club, claiming victory at the 2018 CME Group Tour Championship by four shots over Korda. Coincidently, Korda carded her first ace in her seven-year LPGA Tour career at Tiburón during the 2023 season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. She recorded a one on the par-3 eighth.