Lexi Thompson Shoots 73 in PGA Tour Debut

Thompson became just the seventh woman to tee it up in a PGA Tour event at the Shriners Children’s Open, and she impressed in the opening round.

Lexi Thompson posted a 2-over par 73 in her first round at the Shriners Children’s Open, becoming just the seventh woman to tee it up at PGA Tour event. With history on the line in Las Vegas, the 11-time LPGA Tour winner felt first-tee jitters, but she likened her feelings to those she’s encountered during one of the most prestigious events in the women’s game: the Solheim Cup.

“I had a little bit of nerves, but not too much,” Thompson said. “Kind of similar to Solheim, similar nerves, but that’s kind of what you play for.” 

Playing at 7,255 yards—737 yards longer than the LPGA’s set-up this week in Shanghai—TPC Summerlin didn’t seem to overwhelm Thompson, as she hit multiple drives 300 yards before play was suspended on her 17th hole. When darkness forced players off the course for the night, Thompson stood at 1 over par and tied for 76th place. She had a 20-foot putt to save par on the par-3 17th, which she just missed on Friday morning.

The PGA Tour’s Michael Kim took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday evening to share his thoughts on Thompson’s opening round. 

“Lexi Thompson being t-76 +1 thru 16 holes is seriously impressive,” Kim wrote. “You can bet there’s some pros around that absolutely don’t want to lose to Lexi tomorrow and will give it their all (myself included) hope she has a chance to make the cut tomorrow!”

With the projected cut at even par as Round 2 commences, Thompson will need to go low to make the weekend. In Thompson’s words, the opening round of 73 was “decent.”

“I had one bad hole and a few iffy shots,” Thompson said. “But it's golf. It was kind of expected.”

Thompson began her round with a bang on Thursday. Her tee shot on No. 1 sailed 302 yards into the right-hand fairway bunker. But she stuck her approach to just 8 feet and two-putted for par. On the 466-yard 2nd, she crushed another driver 304 yards, leaving a 162-yard approach on the challenging par 4. Thompson holed a long range putt for birdie to move into red numbers. 

“It was a very special feeling,” Thompson said. “I hit a great shot into 1 and probably hit one of my worst putts and then hit an amazing putt on No. 2, so it was nice to kind of have a good stroke there and make birdie on a more difficult hole.”

From there, Thompson made her first bogey of the day, failing to get up and down after missing the green to the left. Three consecutive pars followed, but on the par-4 7th she battled shaky putting and carded a three-putt double bogey. With one more bogey and a birdie on the reachable par-5 9th, Thompson went out in 37. 

On the green in two‼️@Lexi cards a birdie on the 9th hole at the @ShrinersOpen

Watch now on @GolfChannel and @PGATOURLIVE! pic.twitter.com/FLqcdA2ASu

— LPGA (@LPGA) October 12, 2023

The 28-year-old seemed to find her confidence after the two-putt birdie. She played her next seven holes in 1-under before missing the green at the 17th, where play was suspended for the day. 

Out of the 130 players in the field, Thompson ranked 113th in driving distance, with her longest drive being 316 yards. She hit eight fairways, ranking T62 in accuracy off the tee. She stood 65th in strokes gained putting.

From the first tee until dusk, fans swarmed Thompson’s group to show their support. 

“The fans were amazing,” Thompson said. “So many people around that first tee and then following us those next few holes. It was just great, especially to see those little kids out there.”

Before teeing off at the PGA Tour event, Thompson wasn’t shy about her goal of making the cut. If she makes the weekend at TPC Summerlin, Thompson would become the first woman to make a PGA Tour cut since Babe Zaharias in 1945. 

But to Thompson, the week in Las Vegas is about more than just results. The major champion’s Cobra staff bag is decorated with handwritten notes of encouragement and signatures from Shriners Children’s patients, whom Thompson hopes to inspire with her play. 

“I had a plain white bag and gave it to all of them to design and write messages for me,” Thompson said. “Shriners does amazing things for these kids, so I’m happy to be out here and supporting them in any way I can,” she continued.