NAPLES, Fla – Lexi Thompson rolled in a 30-footer for birdie at the par 4, 13th hole to give her team their third birdie of the day. It set off a wave of momentum that propelled Thompson and her teammate, Tony Finau, to five straight birdies over the closing stretch of the QBE Shootout.
“It was great to play with Tony. I played some good golf, we both did,” Thompson told LPGA.com. “He made a charge on the back nine, which helped us out as a team.”
The much-needed boost came too late for the team, who started the day three strokes back of the lead and needed a low round to have a chance at the trophy on Sunday. Thompson and Finau carded a final round 65 to finish the week at 23-under par. Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman won the 2018 QBE Shootout at 30-under par.
“We were coasting there for a little bit but we made a nice run towards the end,” Finau said. “It was fun playing with Lexi, had another great time this year.”
Sunday was the most challenging of the three-day competition for Thompson, who played her own ball in the best ball format. All week, Thompson played from the tips at Tiburón Golf Club, the same tees from which her PGA Tour counterparts played. This week, the course played 7,382 yards. During the first two days of the competition, she got a bit of a reprieve on the longer layout thanks to the scramble and modified alternate shot formats, making Sunday the toughest test. Impressively, Thompson managed a round of Even par on her own ball.
Sunday, the field saw the worst weather of the week. Tee times were moved up in an effort to avoid the storms that were forecasted for the afternoon. Unfortunately, they weren’t early enough to avoid all the inclement weather. As Thompson and Finau made the turn, 20 mile per hour winds and heavy rain arrived in Naples, but the line of storms made its way through the area within an hour and without any delay to the competition.
This week, Thompson and Finau teamed up for the second consecutive year. They finished T4 in 2017.
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