BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – In Gee Chun rose after losing the rest of his former lead, breaking the full nine to win the PGA Women’s Championship on Sunday when Lexi Thompson stumbled with his pater.
Chun shot 3 over 75 for the second day in a row in Congress, but that was enough to win her third major title with a blow over Thompson and Minji Lee. Chun, after leading by six in the middle of the tournament, lost an advantage with three shots in the first three holes of the last round. Thompson was two shots ahead of her after the previous nine, but the problems with Thompson’s placement were just beginning.
The 27-year-old from Florida missed a nominal shot of a few feet at number 14, but a bird at 15 restored her lead to two. She then scored a par-5 16th while Chun made a birdie, leaving the two players leveled with two holes left.
Thompson made three puts for bogey at 17 and after an impressive approach from a rough game at 18, her birdie putt was not hit hard enough.
Chun’s approach on par-4 18th bounced past the hole and right from the back of the green, but she made about 5 feet and thwarted her attempt to win.
Chun, a 27-year-old from South Korea, led by seven strokes after finishing 8-under 64 in wet conditions on Thursday. The lead fell to five at the end of the day – still equal to the biggest 18-hole advantage in women’s major history.
She was six strokes forward in the middle and had an advantage of three strokes on Sunday. She finished 5-under 283.
Chun won his first major at the US Women’s Open in 2015 and added the Evian Championship in France the following year.
Thompson has not won an event on the LPGA Tour since 2019, and her only big win came as a teenager at Mission Hills in the California desert in 2014. She certainly had a chance. She lost by five strokes during the final round of last year’s U.S. Women’s Open at the Olympic Club.
This year, she was 10 strokes back after the first round before steadily chasing Chun. Thompson made birds on 1 and 3 on Sunday. Chun pulled out Nos. 2 and 4 to fall out of the lead.
Thompson missed short bird strikes in the eighth and ninth – heralding her problems later in the round – but Chun’s 40s in the top nine left her two backs on the turn. Sei Young Kim, who had reached 6 less at one point, suffered 8, 10, 11 and 12 and was not a factor after that.
When Chun made his first bird of the day on par-5 11th, Thompson responded with his own bird to stay two shots ahead at 7 under. When Thompson pulled out 12, Chun did.
The 16th hole, where Chun had to accept an unplayable lie and make a double buggy on Saturday, was the turning point in her favor in the final round. Thompson was a little to the right of the green in two shots, but took four from there to make a boogie while Chun rolled into his birdie putt after a long wait.
Lee, who was six behind earlier in the day, had just missed an Eagle 16 shot that could have equalized her lead. When Thompson scored 15 and Lee 17, the Australian was three.
The great approach to the last hole gave Lee a short shot, but after doing so for the final round of 70, she still needed Thompson to miss two more shots.
That actually happened, but Lee’s bird and two pennies on the last three holes were enough to win.
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