Lexi Thompson came alive late on Friday at the KPMG Women’s PGA, pouring in four birdies over her last five holes to vault inside the cutline at Baltusrol’s Lower Course.
“I’m like, I just need to fire at pins,” said Thompson. “Trust me, I was trying to do it the whole time. Kind of just all clicked coming in. Made some really good putts and really stuck to my game plan coming in.”
Thompson, 28, curled in a 25-footer for birdie on the eighth hole (her 17th) to put an exclamation point on a day that looked headed for the gutter as she was 8 over for the championship through 31 holes.
Thompson, an 11-time winner on the LPGA who last triumphed in 2019, hit only five fairways and 10 greens in her first 18 holes and took 32 putts. She opened with a 76 playing alongside the LPGA’s newest sensation, Rose Zhang, and two-time major winner Minjee Lee.
