Zaharias, one of the game’s great athletes, had the kind of game that allowed her to fit in on the PGA Tour, too, and in 1935, she played the Cascades Open. Zaharias missed the cut, but it started an 11-year stint during which she teed it up a handful of times with the men (becoming the first woman to do so). She was instrumental in attracting early fanfare to the LPGA.
Thompson has certainly done the same this week, bombing drives of over 300 yards and drawing galleries to a FedEx Cup Fall tournament that’s lacking in star power.
She looked in good position to make the weekend after a birdie on the second hole pushed her to 2 under for the tournament.
Back-to-back birdies for @Lexi!
She moves to 2-under and one shot inside the cutline @ShrinersOpen. pic.twitter.com/Z8kR9bfPX1
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 13, 2023
A bad break on No. 5 started to derail things however, as she pushed her tee shot on the par 3 a bit right and it caromed into a penalty area. Thompson returned to a drop area, then stuck an iron close and dropped a big 6-foot putt that kept her at 1 under, right at a projected cutline that was expected to drop due to calm scoring conditions.
But for the second straight day, the eighth hole proved a thorn in Thompson’s side as she rolled through the long par-3, came up well short on a chip and then missed a par putt. The bogey dropped her to even, meaning she needed a birdie to stay in contention for the cut line and an eagle to get secure.
On her final hole, needing an eagle to get safe inside the line, Thompson hit her drive 289 yards and followed with a 258-yard second shot that just missed the green. A chip from the fringe just missed and then her birdie putt caught the lip and went a couple inches past.
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