Lexi Thompson said making the cut at the Shriners Children’s Open would rank among the biggest achievements in her career Tuesday, two days before she’s slated to become the seventh female golfer to play a PGA Tour event.
“Definitely at the top of my accomplishments,” she said. “It’s been an honor just to get this invite, but one step, one shot at a time. That would be an amazing feeling.”
Thompson, 28, is an 11-time LPGA winner with one major who ranks among the longest drivers and biggest stars in women’s golf. Other LPGA stars to play PGA Tour events include Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie West, but the only one to ever make the 36-hole cut was Babe Didrikson Zaharias at the 1945 Los Angeles Open.
Thompson has been one of the longest players on the LPGA Tour, often averaging just under 280 yards per drive. That usually puts her in the top 10 on tour, where courses are set up shorter and she often needs to hit shorter clubs. The average driving distance on the PGA Tour is usually around 300 yards, and Thompson said TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas is well set up for her.
“Here it’s driver on every hole, and I definitely like that,” she said. “Fire away and swing, get the most distance I can on a few of those holes.”
Last week at the Sanderson Farms…
