In Gee Chun’s path to victory at the Women’s PGA Championship went from comfortable to uneasy Saturday at Congressional Country Club, where her exquisitely steady play in the first two rounds unraveled during two holes on the back nine.
Lexi Thompson surges as leader In Gee Chun fades at Women’s PGA
Thompson fired a 2-under-par 70 on the strength of three birdies on the back nine and is part of a trio at 5 under. Chun hobbled to the finish and shot a 3-over 75 for by far her worst round of the tournament. Her card included five bogeys or worse after she had just three bogeys over her first 36 holes.
South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi and Sei Young Kim also are 5 under in the first professional major in the D.C. area since Rory McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional by eight strokes.
Thompson’s most recent LPGA Tour win came in June 2019 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. Since then, she has been in contention multiple times, only to endure narrow misses.
“It’s something I don’t even want to think about,” she said. “I’m going out tomorrow playing like I have the last three days — playing relaxed, playing free and just focusing on my game. Whatever the other girls do, that’s their control, and I’m in control of my game. That’s all I can focus on.”
The sixth-ranked player in the world ignited her round with a birdie at the par-4 12th and added another at the par-4 14th with a wedge into an elevated green that settled within six feet. Her well-struck putt rolled in along an ideal line, setting up her most exhilarating stroke of the round.
At the par-4 15th, the 27-year-old drove powerfully into the fairway, leaving roughly 170 yards to the flag. After a brief conversation with caddie Will Davidson, she pulled an 8-iron out of her bag and sent her approach onto the putting surface some 30 feet from the hole.
More lengthy discussions followed as they surveyed the contour and grain of the grass between Thompson’s ball and the cup. They determined she should aim approximately one cup to the right. The reaction in the gallery after the ball vanished could be heard all around the Blue Course.
“I’m just happy that I’m putting myself into contention,” Thompson said. “I know I’ve put in the hard work, and just to see it pay off means the world to me. I know I’m in a good state with my game and just my mental state, so I’m going out tomorrow enjoying the walk with my caddie and hopefully a lot of fans out there supporting us.”
Chun spent portions of her round laughing with her caddie, Dean Herden, even as she missed par putts at Nos. 7 and 11. She backed up a bogey at No. 11 with birdies on the 12th and 14th holes before calamity befell her.
Chun, the 33rd-ranked player in the world, hit the fairway at No. 15, but her approach to the green sailed into the rough. She chipped onto the green but missed a somewhat lengthy putt for par.
Chun had not made consecutive bogeys this week before she courted disaster at No. 16. Her second shot settled in the tall grass near the cart path, and a wayward third swipe with an 8-iron sent the ball well over the green and into a cluster of trees.
She located her ball but took an unplayable lie, walking back to the previous spot to hit again, using the same club.
“Yeah, I had a bad third shot,” Chun said. “It was a bad lie, so when I got there the ball was under trees. I definitely couldn’t make a shot if I took the club lengths. I’m just going back to the original spot.”
Her fifth shot flew over the green into thick rough, eliciting murmurs from the gallery, and Chun had to execute one of her more dynamic acts of scrambling to save a double bogey and prevent the ignominy of adding a snowman to her scorecard.
Chun regrouped to finish with consecutive pars — she had birdie putts on both holes that didn’t miss by much — in her quest to claim her first Women’s PGA Championship and her third major title.
“Absolutely it was a little tough out there,” said Chun, whose best finish at the Women’s PGA Championship is a tie for 23rd in 2020 at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia. “I’m so proud of myself because I hung in there after I had double bogey on 16. I made two pars, and I’m so proud of that.”
Source: WP
