Lexi Thompson took the nice with the dangerous — however will concentrate on the previous — in capturing 72 on Friday on the KPMG Ladies’s PGA Championship.
The even-par spherical saved her at 4 below for the occasion and in place to finish a five-year winless drought on the LPGA Tour.
Thompson led after a gap 68 and prolonged her benefit with three birdies over her first eight holes in Spherical 2 at Sahalee Nation Membership in Sammamish, Washington.
Having began on the again 9, Thompson bumped into bother on the par-5 second, her eleventh gap of the day. Her tee shot discovered the suitable tough and her second the left tough. She needed to pitch out on her third after which lastly hit the inexperienced – although, 43 ft from the opening.
Thompson three-putted from there for a 7. She dropped one other shot on the fourth — the place her tee shot hit timber and solely traveled 143 yards — and traded a birdie on the sixth with a bogey on the eighth.
When she signed her scorecard, Thompson was two off the clubhouse lead held by Sarah Schmelzel (67).
“It’s all about endurance. Coming into every time out right here you recognize you’re going to hit some dangerous pictures that possibly get penalized by the timber and you need to take your drugs with both pitching out or simply getting it again in place,” Thompson mentioned.
“There will likely be bogeys however make the most of a couple of birdie alternatives you get on the market.”
Thompson is looking for her first tour title since June 2019 and her first main championship victory since 2014.
After saying on the U.S. Ladies’s Open that she would now not play full-time on tour, beginning subsequent 12 months, Thompson almost gained final week’s Meijer LPGA Traditional. She got here inches from chipping in for victory on the 72nd gap, earlier than falling to Lilia Vu in a three-way playoff that additionally included Grace Kim.
Thompson mentioned it’s not a shock that she finds herself taking part in properly.
“I hoped for it,” she mentioned with a smile. “I had the few weeks off earlier than Michigan (Meijer) and I labored extraordinarily laborious. I used to be out on the golf course in Florida summer season for 5 to seven hours a day simply attempting to determine one thing that simply clicked.”
