x

WATCH: Lexi Thompson drains eagle putt on final hole to win ShopRite LPGA Classic

June 9, 2019

Lexi Thompson drained a 20-foot eagle putt on the final hole to win the ShopRite LPGA Classic on Sunday and claim her 11th career LPGA victory.

Thompson, who started the day two shots off the lead, played her last three holes in three under to shoot a four-under 67 on the Bay Course at Seaview in Galloway, N.J. That was good for the clubhouse lead at 12 under, which was two clear at that point.

Jeongeun Lee6 was the 36-hole leader entering the day — it was a 54-hole tournament — but she made three straight bogeys on 13, 14 and 15. It was shortly after that when Thompson played the par-5 18th and hit her tee shot into the rough. With 20- to 30-mph winds pestering players all round, Thompson’s second shot into the final hole was no easy decision.

“I kind of had a little sketchy lie so I knew it was going to jump, and then it was blowing 30 mph downwind, and I had 190 to the front, 200 pin, and it’s crazy to think about all the numbers that we were thinking about,” she said. “But we were like, land it 30 yards short, so 160, and then with a jumper lie and then the wind I ended up hitting a pitching wedge, which is my 135 club, from 190. Ended up, I guess, landing 50 yards short and rolling up there.”

Thompson rolled in the putt and fist-pumped as the crowd erupted. It was this same tournament she made her pro debut at in 2010.

“I got chills,” Thompson said. “Like my hair on my arms was like sticking up once I made that putt.”

Lee6, last week’s U.S. Women’s Open champion, made birdie on 16 but needed to eagle 18 to tie Thompson. She reached the green in two but missed her 45-foot eagle try, settling for a birdie and a one-under 70. She finished 11 under overall and in second.

x