Lexi Thompson began her week by parachuting into the Kingsmill Championship pro-am and ended it by flying high with a convincing five-stroke victory over In Gee Chun in her first win since incurring that hideous four-shot penalty at the ANA Inspiration.
Lexi Thompson wins for 1st time since ANA penalty as Lydia Ko retains No. 1 ranking
Thompson played nearly flawless golf in winning her 1st LPGA Tour event since the heartbreak at the ANA Inspiration.
Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images
Thompson, who cruised to the finish line with a flawless 6-under 65 after making just two bogeys in four rounds, also notched her first W since the 2016 Honda LPGA Thailand. She did so in style with a tourney scoring record of 20-under 264.
The wire-to-wire winner acknowledged that she had a bit of a chip on her shoulder after learning down the stretch of the ANA that a TV viewer contacted LPGA officials about her rules violation during Saturday’s third round of the season’s first major.
“I’m going to be as determined as any other person out here,” Thompson said after carding a 69 in Saturday’s third round to take a three-shot lead into Sunday’s finale. “We all want to win. I have a little bit more drive now, I would say, but I’m just going to go out there and be confident and see where it goes.”
Where it went was to the winner’s circle with a triumph that meant a great deal to Thompson after the heartbreak at the ANA.
“It [the win] really does [mean more than it normally would],” she told Golf Channel after two-putting for par on the 18th hole to notch her eighth career tour victory. “I’ve been working so hard for this.”
In the game-within-the-game, Lydia Ko was able to maintain her spot atop the Rolex Rankings after finishing with two birdies in her final three holes on Sunday following a double bogey-7 on the par-5 15th. Her final-round 73 was hardly spectacular, but it was enough to ensure that none of the various scenarios that would have seen her lose the No. 1 ranking played out.
