After the first round of the Women’s PGA Championship, Lexi Thompson obtained a score of 68 to take a one-shot lead. The American shot a four-under-par round to be one stroke of her fellow countrywoman Nelly Korda and player Patty Tavatanakit from Thailand.
With her success, the athlete stated: “It was overall just a great day… Can’t ask for better weather out there.”
She added: “I played solid golf. Just tried to stay in the moment… There was a lot of tough holes out there, so I just tried to visualize and pick small targets and take advantage of the few birdies that you get out there.”
Highlights of the play
The 29-year-old athlete opened her round with three consecutive birdies and finished with three more in addition to two bogeys. She shot a bogey-free 32 after hitting a faultless front nine, which was rounded off with a 6-foot birdie on the par-3 ninth.
Following a bogey on the tenth hole, Thompson remained composed, collected herself, and recovered to make birdies on the twelfth and fourteenth holes. Although she hadn’t anticipated making another bogey at the sixteenth hole, the seasoned player concluded the round one stroke ahead of Tavatanakit and Korda.
“My approach shots felt great. They felt really good last week, so just trying to simplify things and get in a rhythm with my swing,” Thompson admitted.
It was reported that Thompson, who has won one major since 2014, intends to retire from full-time golf after the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
In other news, 25-year-old Korda is aiming for her second major title of the year and her seventh victory of the year.
Korda said: “Overall, I played pretty well… I think I just had one bogey and one double. If you try to be aggressive when you’ve hit it off line, it just bites you in the butt. So I did on that hole.”
Source: BBC, Men’s Journal