How Thompson lost the chance to win a major

The event, organized by the United States Golf Association (USGA) on the Par71 Lake course in the Olympic Club in San Francisco, closed the curtain on the morning of June 7, Hanoi time.

Thompson entered the final round at the top of the group with a score of -7, leading Yuka Saso from the Philippines by one stroke, six strokes behind Japanese competitor Nasa Hataoka. In the opening hole, the American star went to the green after two swings and two birdie putts. From hole 2 to hole 8, she considered a break even – birdie on hole 5 made up for bogey on hole 2. But the leading contenders, including Saso and Hataoka, lost their fire, so Thompson at the top of hole 9 had a five-stroke lead.

This advantage remained four strokes when she entered hole 11. However, Thompson hit left, had to exit the rough fairway, then chip off well on the green and then missed a close-range putt to close the double bogey. After this tunnel collapse phase, the distance to her was two sticks. On hole 14, she bogey again. At that time, the difference was only one stroke, unchanged until the end of hole 16.

At the beginning of the 17th hole, Thompson miscalculated and the wind should hit the high and thick rough grass, so difficult that when exiting the fairway, the ball went only about 40 yards. The third shot, the player born in 1995 did not reach the green, then added one chip, two putts to finish the bogey.

Thompson failed putt, bogey on 17

Here, Thompson shares the top of the table with Saso and Hataoka.

“The technique is good, but the ball is bad because of the wind. I have never seen a rough exit phase that is so difficult,” Thompson explained the result of the 17th hole.

When Thompson and Saso entered the 18th hole, Hataoka finished with a score of -4. This stage, Saso kept par and reached -4 after 72 holes. And Thompson, if the birdie will be on the podium. However, the native hope after two shots did not hit the green but fell into a sand trap.

Thompson escaped, the ball was 1.8 meters from the hole with a sloped putter. She putt lack of force. After that bogey, Thompson waited for another opportunity at the tournament she first attended when she was 12 years old, through 15 matches with five top 10 finishes, including T2 in 2019.

Saso eventually won the US Women’s Open after beating Hataoka on the third extra hole by birdie 3.3 meters from the hole.

“Of course I can’t laugh. But that’s golf. And thanks to that, I have learned valuable lessons that I will apply at this week’s LPGA Tour event,” Thompson said before leaving the course. She currently owns 11 LPGA Tour championships, including the 2014 major ANA Inspiration.

Quoc Huy synthetic