FRISCO, Texas — Lexi Thompson nearly got blown over to start the third round of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, with a top and a shank on the way to a triple bogey on the opening hole in windy conditions Saturday.
After hitting her tee shot into the fairway on the 517-yard par-5 first hole, a 207-yard drive into wind gusting to around 30 mph, Thompson topped her second shot that went only 117 yards. She indicated to her caddie that the wind knocked her out of balance.
Things didn’t get any better from there. Thompson shanked her third shot to the right into a thick native area and had to take a penalty shot that went over the green. She eventually two-putted from 20 feet, then followed with a bogey on the second hole.
The semi-retired Thompson, playing for only the seventh time in 16 tournaments this season, won her only major in the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. After a 2-under 70 on Friday, she went into the third round of the Women’s PGA in fourth place and was four strokes behind Jeeno Thitikul, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, and was in the second-to-last group Saturday.
Thompson’s 13 top-five finishes in majors since 2013 are the most by any player and among her 20 top-10 finishes in those events.
