Lexi Thompson plays through pulled back muscle to finish second at LPGA Drive On Championship

Lexi Thompson hasn’t won since 2019. She wasn’t going to let a pulled back muscle keep her from giving a shot at ending that drought Saturday.

The 26-year-old nearly did, getting within two strokes of eventual winner Leona Maguire.

But Thompson grimaced and grabbed a bit at her back on a wayward tee shot on No. 16. That led to a bogey, and although she recovered to birdie the final hole to finish solo second.

“I kind of pulled a back muscle my first round out here and I was just happy to get through the next two days,” Thompson said. “I didn’t play any differently. It was just sore. But I would have to have a broken back to not play, so I fought through it. Took some painkillers and just managed to get around the golf. Obviously played well, so it was just happy to be out there.”

“I don’t think she was quite 100% out there and she was gutting through it,” said playing partner Stacy Lewis, who tied for fourth. “Just really proud of her. She didn’t feel very good out there today and still put up a pretty good number.”

Thompson holed out for eagle from the fairway on No. 10, then followed with birdies on Nos. 11 and 13.

“Holing out on 10 and making the birdie on 11 I knew I had to be somewhat close, so I just tried to stay in the moment, focus on just doing my pre-shot routine and committing to those golf shots out there,” Thompson said. “I knew I had to make birdies.”

“Here comes @Lexi!” 💥

An eagle from the fairway to get within two of the lead 👀 #DriveOn pic.twitter.com/mslATQ1hA4

— LPGA (@LPGA) February 5, 2022

Thompson’s eagle from the fairway may have been her first hole-out that wasn’t an ace on a par 3.

“I haven’t holed out I don’t think because besides a hole-in-one, but I hit my 2-iron off the tee, just kind of a placement, it’s a shorter hole,” she said. “I had 101 pin, dead into the wind. I was in between clubs and I was talking about it with my caddie, Will. ‘Do you think my 115 club gets there? It’s going to be higher.’ So I’m like, I just want to keep the next one lower in the wind, so just chipped it. I saw it bounce and then I knew it went past, I guess it spun back.

“I just went off the crowd to the left because it was tucked right. The crowd went nuts so I was like, ‘All right.’ Definitely great memory.”

Golf will be a bit of a memory for the next six weeks. Thompson will return in March when the tour comes to California.

“With playing (QBE) Shootout in December I didn’t get much of an offseason,” she said. “Only had two, three weeks, so I’m looking forward to definitely putting the clubs away for probably a week or two, especially dealing with a little bit of a back issue.

“But I’ll be working hard as soon as I get back into it because I have things that I want to improve on and definitely get stronger.”

Schmelzel finishes career best

American Sarah Schmelzel, 27, fired an 8-under 64 to tie the second best score of the day for her best-ever finish.

Her previous highest had also been at one of the tour’s Drive On Championships, which came into existence to help overseas gaps in the schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. She tied for sixth at Inverness in 2020, and at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii last year.

“Obviously it’s really nice to play well in the final round and move up the leaderboard, something I’ve been working on a lot last few years on tour, so it was nice to see that come together,” she said. “Been playing well all week. Been hitting really good shots and had a lot of good looks, so I think the key was to stay really patient, and finally some putts started to go in on the back nine. Glad I kept it rolling.”

Schmelzel birdied Nos. 12-14 and Nos. 16-18.

“Making the turn I was just trying to make as many birdies as possible because I know the rest of the girls are out there trying to do the same thing,” she said. “I wasn’t sure that I was going to get six out of last seven or whatever it was, so I’m happy with that.”

Tournament has second ace

Stephanie Meadow had a hole-in-one in the first round, and Perrine Delacour had one in the final round, doing so on No. 7.

🚨 ACE ALERT 🚨 @PerrineDelacour aces the par-3 7th hole at the LPGA #DriveOn Championship! pic.twitter.com/auzzAZBmP8

— LPGA (@LPGA) February 5, 2022

“So I hit it really good,” Delacour said. “It was 146 meters to the pin and I hit a really good 7-iron. I started a really good line and then I pitch it on the green and then just roll in the hole and start screaming, jumping around with my caddie.”

Delacour shot a bogey-free 67 and tied for 20th.

As with Meadow’s ace, $20,000 will be donated by CME Group to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Lin, Ashok fire 63s

Aditi Ashok and Xiyu Lin both took advantage of a little lighter winds early in the day, both shooting 9-under 63s. The wind did kick up as the final round wore on.

“It was super fun,” said Lin, who finished in a tie for fourth. “When I make the cut and I saw today is going to be a little less windy I really thought this course have lots of opportunities, so I really went for it today and I putted really well. Hit like lots of good shots, have some save. Yeah, it was really nice.”

Lin had birdied Nos. 10 and 12 on the back before coming to the par-4 13th. The tee had been moved up to 254 yards, so it was driveable for a lot of players. She pulled out a 3-wood, but didn’t make the green.

“It just didn’t get a really good bounce so I was on the lip of the bunker,” she said. “I was standing in the bunker, and then it’s not a very easy chip, even it’s only 25 yards away. Then I left it a little short, about 20-footer, and I made that putt. So that was a big move because for short hole you always want to have birdie.”

Ashok felt like she couldn’t miss a putt, and she nearly didn’t.

“Almost every chance I got I made the putt, which was great,” she said. “I wasn’t hitting it as good as I wanted to. I feel like I was not in control most of the time, so I was holing like 10-, 20-footers. Still, the putting worked, so it was a good day.”

LPGA*USGA Girls get inside and along the ropes

There were fans who were Crown Colony members or guests, but there also was a noticeable group from LPGA*USGA Girls Golf. There were 40 from sites across Florida, including Central Florida, Miami and Fort Myers, as well as Fore Life Inc., junior golfers from Miami.

The girls had posters and flags for players to sign following the final round. On Friday, a few also were junior reporters and walked inside the ropes with Girls Golf alums and LPGA Tour rookies Sophia Schubert and Amanda Doherty.

Saturday, a few girls were inside the ropes with Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Linnea Johansson.

“We had tons of kids out watching today from the Girls Golf around Florida, so just a good day,” Lewis said.

Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/