OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Lexi Thompson needs a big Sunday finish to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, but she has given herself a chance at what would rank as one of the most emotional victories in major championship history.
Thompson’s 2-under-par 69 Saturday left her five shots back going into the final round at Olympia Fields Country Club.
“I was swinging it well all day,” Thompson said. “It was just a matter of the putts going in. I hit it very solid, so a lot of positives to take from today into tomorrow.”
Thompson is playing with her mother, Judy, back home in Coral Springs, Fla, being treated for uterine cancer. Thompson spent last week helping her mother through a radiation treatment. Judy was diagnosed five weeks ago and had the cancerous tumor removed three weeks ago.
It has been an emotional three months, starting with Thompson’s loss at the ANA Inspiration in April, when she appeared to be running away with the title until she was hit with a four-shot penalty on the back nine of the final round and lost in a playoff.
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Thompson, 22, seeking her ninth LPGA title and second major, has played well through it all, winning the Kingsmill Championship in a run that includes five second-place or better finishes worldwide in her last seven worldwide starts.
Olympia Fields has set up well for Thompson’s bomb-and-gouge power game. She is fourth in the field for the week in driving distance and fourth in greens in regulation.
Sunday’s game plan?
“It’s all a matter of weather conditions. If it gets a little windy, it’s just make your pars and go for the birdies when you can out there and take advantage of the easier holes. There’s not too many out there.”
Source: Internet
