An unprecedented shocking event on Sunday cost Lexi Thompson an LPGA major championship.
Thompson was firmly in control of the ANA Inspiration on the back nine, she built a three-shot lead with seven holes to play when something transpired that has never happened in the history or major championship golf — men’s or women’s.
Thompson, looking for her second major title, had just missed a short putt at the 12th hole and saw her three-shot lead shrink to two when LPGA rules officials pulled her aside on her way to the 13th tee at Mission Hills. They notified Thompson that a television viewer had reported what looked like a violation on the 17th hole during Saturday’s third round.
The replay showed that Thompson marked her ball on a short putt and failed to replace the ball in the exact location where she had marked it. She was penalized four shots — two for not placing the ball back in its original position and two for signing for a wrong score on that hole.
Suddenly, she went from 16-under par back to 12-under.
“Is this a joke?” Thompson asked rules officials when they confronted her. “That’s ridiculous,” she said on her way to the 13th hole and her emotions then poured out. She cried, then composed herself and promptly birdied the 13th hole to get back to 13-under and reclaim a piece of the lead.
Up ahead of the last twosome, So Yeon Ryu would birdie the 18th hole to post 14-under.
Thompson added another birdie at the 15th to tie Ryu but gave it back with a bogey at 16 after her drive found the deep rough.
Both Thompson and playing partner Suzanne Pettersen trailed Ryu by a shot going to the par five 18th. Thompson produced two solid shots and her five-iron from 210 yards out left her an eagle putt from 12 feet that would have won her the title outright.
Pettersen missed the green, failed to get up and down and missed the playoff while Thompson’s eagle bid came up two inches short of victory.
In the playoff, Thompson’s drive missed the fairway and it would prove costly. Forced to layup, she left her third 15 feet right of the hole. Ryu hit her second just off the green and chipped to four-feet. Thompson missed, Ryu made hers and the bizzare day came to a sad end for Thompson.
“It’s unfortunate what happened,” Thompson said stoically. “I didn’t realize I did that. All the fans, they helped me through it.”
Ryu, who won her second major, was subdued as well. “It doesn’t feel right,” she said after winning. “It hurts me but at the same time I’m proud of myself.”
And thus ended the most insane day in major championship history.
An infraction from 24 hours earlier robbed Lexi Thompson of a major.
They’ll be talking about this for a long time. A day that should have been a great one for Thompson, turned into a dramatic tragedy. She shot 67 with a four-shot penalty and came close to pulling off what would have been a miracle.
6 Comments
beege
Tom, as absurd as this whole deal was and is—-it may turn out to be a better thing that she lost because now it should force these stupid tours to cut off viewers completely–mike tirico said it best if you want to monitor tv 100% have rules officials watch everything and call something immediately–or its gone forever.
bottom line–this is all crap–players call things on themselves and if they cheat they have their own mind and heart to deal with.
Tom Edrington
Bob, the way it works is that playing partners protect the field. It was so insignificant that her playing partners did not notice. There was no competitive edge gained. They should have just hit her with two shots and called it at that. They basically stole this major from her. What would they have done if it was reported on Monday? A good friend of mine who played the tour in the 70s once told me that Seve sometimes had problems marking his ball but no one ever called it on him….
RM
Good point as far as, “What would they have done if it was reported on Monday?”
They need to put an end to this stuff with the public providing after the fact videos. If the officials and playing partners don’t catch it before the hole is played out, too bad, it’s history.
This is going nowhere good.
-More and more people obsessing over this nonsense and sending gotcha videos hoping for their 15 minutes of fame.
-Increasing debates and delays over trivial issues as these issues are hashed out.
-Is it fair when the leaders are under the camera’s microscope, while the players further back have this kind of gaff go unnoticed?
-Screwing up what was a great tournament and leaving everyone with a bad taste in their mouth. Can’t imagine this helped Petterson’s game, not to mention what it did to Lexi.
-Adding to golf’s rep as a stuffy, hidebound, nit picking, pursuit. Did this help move the ball forward on any aspect of golf – spectator enjoyment, pure competition between the world’s best, growing the game and presenting it as its best, etc.?
Tom Edrington
Great observations RM. I’m of the school that if the playing partner(s) didn’t see it, it was way to subtle anyway. The playing partners are there to protect the field and she gained no competitive advantage whatsoever with her mistake. At worst, they should have given her a two-shot penalty and called it a day.
dlpny
If the round ends and no violation was called the score should stand as is. And, if it’s not called by a player or an official it can’t be acted upon. Enough of these armchair “pros” who only come close to the real pros when they take forever to line up their putts while the world waits for their fat butts to finish.
Tom Edrington
You are most likely preaching to the choir, many believe as you do, for sure. Our thought is the WORST that should have happened was a two-shot penalty. These “call-ins” have to go away, same with people emailing in, where to they get the email and phone numbers anyway? Need to put this nonsense out of the game, for certain!! Thanks for checking in and voicing your thoughts!