Lexi Thompson falls short of LPGA history

Lexi Thompson falls short of LPGA history

Lexi Thompson's first opportunity to close out a final-round LPGA lead turned into a humbling bump on professional golf's learning curve.

Two early bogeys left the Coral Springs teen playing catch-up Sunday at the Avnet LPGA Classic in Mobile, Ala. Any hopes of becoming the tour's youngest-ever winner were shattered by consecutive double bogeys at Nos. 14 and 15.

"It's golf and you have these kind of days," Thompson told Golf Channel after signing for a 6-over-par 78. "You've just got to take it and go on to the next tournament, I guess."

Orlando's Maria Hjorth cruised to victory, firing a closing 67 that turned a two-shot deficit into a two-shot edge over Song-Hee Kim. Four birdies in the first seven holes propelled the Swedish pro to her second win in less than five months, having closed out last year by winning the LPGA Tour Championship at Grand Cypress.

"It's fun to really be able to be out there and win again," Hjorth, 37, told an LPGA liaison. "I could have just as well been a mum to Alexis Thompson. They're so young coming out here now."

Thompson, 16, was seeking to supplant Marlene Hagge as the LPGA's youngest champion. Hagge was two weeks past her 18th birthday when she won the 1952 Sarasota Open, then an 18-hole event.

The youngest winner of a multi-round LPGA event is Paula Creamer, who was 18 years, 9 months when she won the 2005 Sybase Classic.

Starting the day tied with Kim for the lead, Thompson quickly dropped back with a bogey at the par-4 first hole. She also bogeyed No.3 when a short par save lipped out, but regained a shot with a birdie at No.5 as Hjorth made her move.

Thompson parred her next eight holes to stay within three shots of Hjorth, but met with calamity when her tee shot at the 149-yard 14th splashed into a greenside pond. That resulted in double bogey, followed by another at No.15 when her second shot caromed off a bulkhead and into the water.

Asked what part of her game betrayed her Sunday, Thompson said: "Pretty much everything. My ballstriking was bad, and my putting wasn't like what I did [Friday and Saturday]. It was not a good day."

Thompson fell to a tie for 19th, nine strokes behind Hjorth, for a paycheck worth $14,715. She now heads home for two weeks before her next start, a Ladies European Tour event in Germany.