This is where it had all began for Lexi Thompson. So maybe it was only fitting that nine years later, she was able to do something special that made her celebrated journey come full circle.
In 2010, Thompson made her professional debut on a sponsor’s exemption at the LPGA’s Shop Rite Classic. She was all of 15, with nothing but great things being predicted for her. On June 9 on the Donald Ross Bay Course at the Seaview Resort, she lifted a trophy for the seventh straight season by eagling the par-5 18th hole to earn a one-shot win over Jeongeun Lee6.
The week before at the Women’s U.S. Open, Lexi had finished runnerup behind Lee.
“It means the world to me to get this win here,” said Thompson, whose 11th career LPGA victory was worth $262,500, moving her over $1 million in 2019 earnings. “(That first appearance) was a great week memory-wise. But obviously there was a lot to learn.”
There always is. And the great ones always do.
One of the top-ranked Americans, she came back from a two-stroke deficit over the last three holes. She birdied 16, parred the short par 3 17th and then made a 20-footer for 3 to close it out. Lee6, the 36-hole leader, needed an eagle to tie but could only manage a bird. In windy conditions, Thompson ended with a 4-under par 67 for a 201 total. Lee6 had a third-round 70.
Thompson had three-putted 15 from just off the green for a bogey. But Lee6 bogeyed the 13th, 14th and 15th. Both birdied 16. Thompson, playing two groups ahead, had 190 yards to the green from a fluffy lie in the left rough on the home hole. She went with a pitching wedge, which she said is her “135 “ club. Not this time. Her ball rolled on and the rest was up to her putter, which cooperated.
“I got chills, like my hair on my arms was sticking up once I made the putt,” she said.
From the fairway, Lee6 saw her second shot kick right before finding the putting surface. But she had left herself some 45 feet, and the attempt slide by.
“It’s (still) amazing,” Lee6 acknowledged, through her interpreter/manager. “I’m pretty satisfied with finishing in second place.”
Of course after you’ve won a U.S. Open, you should be.
But Thompson now had her moment, to go with the ones from 2010.
“I didn’t play great the first year I was here,” she recalled. “Haven’t had too many successes here, honestly. I knew I was playing well coming into this event … Now (there’s) 2019 (too). There were huge crowds, even starting Friday. Us players, we really want to see that. The more people the better. I really thrive off people cheering and just feeling good. Even if I struggled early they were just picking me up, saying, ‘You’ve got this, come on, you can come back.’ Just to hear that support, it does help you out tremendously.
“I just really tried to find the positives. It’s a crazy game, and it can happen.”
And it’s indeed happened for her. Which can only be good for the sport, especially in this country.
“What role do I see (for myself)?” Thompson said. “Well, coming in I just really wanted to grow the game in general, just leave it in a better place than when I started. I love seeing little kids out there supporting the game and just following us. They don’t know how you’re playing. I could shoot 6-over and they’re like, ‘Great playing,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh no.’ But they’re so cute, and it’s just like they make the sport.
“If it wasn’t for the fans, the game wouldn’t be the same. It’s through the fans that I made it through adversity a couple of years ago (as her mom Judy battled cancer), and that I’m still chugging along and just looking at the positives in everything. I want to see little kids picking up a club at a younger age, and I think that’s what’s great about so many of the golf programs that are coming up now. I think it’s a great opportunity for these kids to learn a lot about themselves. It’s just a great game.”
Especially when you can pull one out the way that she did at the South Jersey shore. But maybe she was simply destined to do stuff like that. And at her tender age, the best could still be very much in front of her. Now wouldn’t that be something.
“I knew that I needed to work on my game, and what I needed to improve on,” she recalled. “I think that’s what we kind of learn every day we tee it up. I’ve definitely been through a lot. But a lot of (other) people have. The support team that I have around me, they’ve helped me so much just get through everything. Seeing my mom’s attitude in life has opened my eyes. It’s not that bad. It’s made me proud. The determination I’ve put into it, just to see it pay off means so much.
“I just want to show people that you can get through anything life throws at you. You just have to keep pushing through it. Just keep going and not give up, because if you do life will get at you and you’ll go downhill. Obviously we’re all human. We have emotions. We feel sad, depressed. But you have to be strong enough. I think that’s the most important thing.”
Spoken like a true champion. On the course and anywhere else the road might take her.
