While the PGA Tour field will be at its strongest compared to recent weeks, LPGA star Lexi Thompson will be the main attraction at the Shriners Children’s Open beginning Thursday at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
Thompson was invited to become the seventh woman to compete on the PGA Tour in the third event of the FedEx Cup Fall series. It’s the first time an LPGA player will tee it up with the men since Brittany Lincicome played the 2018 Barbasol Championship.
“It means the world to me. Very honored that Shriners invited me to come out here,” Thompson said. “It’s been something I grew up doing with my brothers and have wanted to do, but to also send a message out to the Shriners (Hospital) kids that no dream is too small and they can go after what they want and follow their dreams.”
Thompson, who hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour since 2019, nonetheless had a strong enough season to compete for the United States in the Solheim Cup last month.
The par-71 TPC Summerlin plays 7,255 yards this week, but Thompson is one of the longest LPGA drivers, averaging 270.7 yards off the tee this year.
“It’s nice to come here and hit a lot of drivers, of course,” Thompson said. “You know, the last few weeks I didn’t hit too many drivers, but you still have to hit the golf shots on the LPGA Tour. It’s just I don’t get to take advantage of sometimes my length on a few of those holes. Here it’s driver on every hole, and I definitely like that.”
Thompson will tee off Thursday at 4:19 p.m. ET in a group with Kevin Roy and Trevor Werbylo. She impressed Michael Kim and Ben Griffin when they played a practice round Tuesday.
“Honestly, her game is very good,” Griffin said. “She’s not that far behind us off the tee. It was probably 20 yards on average, which makes obviously a difference. You can look at the stats and see that, but she can definitely handle this golf course. … It spices up the Fall Series a little bit.”
Griffin is back at it after losing to Luke List in a five-man playoff at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship. Griffin missed a par putt to win outright on the final hole of regulation.
As for this week, the highest-ranked player in the field is also the defending champion. World No. 16 Tom Kim of South Korea will play for the first time since the Tour Championship in late August.
The 21-year-old used a third-round 62 last year to win by three shots, outlasting Patrick Cantlay (not in the field this week) and Matt NeSmith.
Despite early-career success, Kim said working with new coach Chris Como this summer helped him learn more about his own game.
“Having a new perspective helped me get more comfortable with myself,” Kim said, “and especially out here when you’re not comfortable and thinking a lot, (it) doesn’t really help.”
The field also features familiar names like Si Woo Kim of South Korea, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, J.T. Poston and Canadian Adam Hadwin — all of whom made the top 50 of the FedEx Cup race and don’t have to play for status this fall.
Finishing Nos. 51-125 will ensure Fall series participants full PGA Tour status for 2024. Finishing Nos. 51-60 will qualify players for two signature events this winter, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.
–Field Level Media