With a one-stroke lead after her opening round on Thursday, teen phenom Lexi Thompson, who led her U.S. Curtis Cup to victory last year in Massachusetts, was the star of the show early at the LPGA Classic.
Crisp. The only blemish on the scorecard for Thompson, who has wrested the mantle of "the future of women’s golf" from former wunderkind Michelle Wie, was a bogey-4 on the 13th hole. On a day when she was crisp off the tee and with her approach shots -- she hit 12 of 14 fairways and every green in regulation -- the 16-year-old posted a 6-under 66.
Indeed, the 6,460-yard Robert Trent Jones Trail at Capitol Hill course played to the strength of the big-hitting Thompson’s game. "It’s just a little bit longer so I get to hit more drives, which is to my advantage," she told Golf Channel after her round. "I just love hitting drivers."
With good reason, as Thompson’s tee shots averaged 275.5 yards.
World No. 1 Yani Tseng was on her way to schooling the rest of the stellar field on exactly why she’s the world’s best golfer until she ran into a speed bump on the par-5 17th. Cruising along with a share of the 6-under lead after 16, Tseng bogeyed her final two holes. The uncharacteristic sloppy play, that included a three-putt on the last, dropped Tseng to 4-under and into a five-way tie for third place.
Despite Tseng’s lackluster finish, Thompson, whose Curtis Cup team beat the squad from Great Britain & Ireland at Massachusetts’ Essex County Club, may not want to get too comfortable as the pacesetter. After all, there’s a reason Tseng has owned the No. 1 spot atop the world rankings for 31 weeks. She leads the tour in almost every conceivable category -- driving distance (268.4 yards), greens in regulation (75.1 percent), birdies (4.61 percent), and the all-important scoring (69.59).
As her first-round closing play illustrated, the one weakness for the 22-year-old, who won her fifth LPGA Tour event of the season last week at the NW Arkansas Championship, was her play on the greens. The youngest golfer ever to win five majors ranked 30th in putting, needing an average of 29.4 putts per round.
Walshe lurks. Meanwhile, it’s anybody’s tourney, as 11 players finished for the day were just three shots back of Thompson. Second-year player Alison Walshe posted six birdies and one bogey to head into Friday’s play in sole possession of second place at 5-under.
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