Teenager Lexi Thompson sank a five-foot birdie putt on the final hole to claim a one-stroke victory over Stacy Lewis in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Guadalajara Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Thompson, the 18-year-old from Coral Springs, Fla., closed with a 3-under-par 69 to earn her third victory on the LPGA Tour and second this season, having won the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia last month.
“Stacy is an amazing player,” said Thompson, who also captured the LPGA Navistar Classic when she was 16. “I knew she would make a run at me anytime during that round. When she made the two-shot swing on me, I think on No. 12, it brought it back to all squared. I knew I had to make birdies on top of her because she gets on a roll and she doesn’t stop. She’s an amazing player and played great today.
” … First off, I had like a 50- to 60-footer for the first one (on the 18th hole), which was interesting getting up there within a few feet. You know on the second putt, that’s what it all came down to, thinking I can make it and went up to it confidently. Just knock it in.”
Lewis, No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, carded three birdies in a row through No. 14 to take a one-shot lead over Thompson, but made a bogey on the 17th hole.
Then Lewis missed a birdie putt from about the same distance as Thompson’s on the final hole to shoot 68.
So Yeon Ru of South Korea posted a 69 and tied for fourth with Inbee Park, also of South Korea, the top-ranked player in the world, who wound up with a 69.
Second-ranked Suzann Pettersen of Norway, who could have taken the lead in the rankings from Park with a victory, shot 70 and finished in a tie for fifth.
