Lexi Thompson finishes one (!) stroke outside projected cut at PGA Tour event
Lexi Thompson appears to have come up short in her bid to become the first woman to make a PGA Tour cut in 75 years at the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas.
Lexi Thompson appears to have come up short in her bid to become the first woman to make a PGA Tour cut since 1945.
Thompson was only the seventh female in history to compete against the men on the circuit when she teed it up at the Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old fought valiantly but faced an uphill battle to make the weekend after carding an opening round of 2-over 71.
On Friday, she followed that with a 2-under 69 to finish level par after 36 holes to sit one shot outside of the projected cut which was expected to move to 2-under.
Thompson began the second round on the back nine and started with a bogey. She rolled in birdie putts at 11, 13 and 15 to move back to level par for the championship.
Two more birdies followed on the front nine including monster putts from 23 and 28 feet at No.1 and 2.
Then came the par-3 fifth where Thompson had to take a penalty drop after hitting her tee shot way right and out of bounds.
Still, she got up and down to save bogey from 98 yards. After that she dropped another shot at the 247-yard par-3 eighth despite a fabulously struck long iron shot.
She needed a three at her finishing hole to guarantee her spot over the weekend and gave her eagle chip a decent effort. Her golf ball finished inside five feet.
But to her frustration she missed the birdie putt low.
"Just to be able to come here and follow my dreams is something that I've always wanted to do," she said. Her brother Davis was also in the field.
She added: "I knew once I had made a few birdies in a row that I would be somewhat close, but I knew the cut line would keep on going lower and lower with these guys, especially with not that much wind out there.
"I just really tried to stay focused on my game and focused on my swing thoughts, picking small targets and staying 100 percent committed, and whatever happens happens. I hit some great shots coming in, even on my 17th hole, No. 8, and [it] just ran through.
"But it's a 2-iron, so I can't really expect too much."
She said she is now looking forward to three weeks off.
Thompson said: "I'm tired. I'm very tired. I felt it last night, and then I knew it was a quick turnaround, so I was like, all right, go to bed, just try to get seven hours [of sleep].
"My body is definitely feeling it, but knowing me I'll probably go to the gym this afternoon. It's just a mental outlet for me.
"But this is what I play for. This is why I work out and what I train for. I'm definitely tired. I'm looking forward to the three weeks of downtime."
Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the first woman to make a PGA Tour cut at the 1945 Phoenix Open.
Shirley Spork once played all 72 holes in the 1952 Northern California-Reno Open, but that was an event without a cut.
Michelle Wie West made eight PGA Tour starts before she retired, missing the cut in all of them.
Sweden's Annika Sorenstam and American Suzy Whaley played PGA Tour events in 2003, with both also missing the cut.
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