Wet and dripping! Champion teen golfer Lexi Thompson, 19, celebrates becoming 2nd youngest to win an LPGA major by jumping into pond with her caddy after sinking final hole
She was seeking her first LPGA major title and, after a faltness win at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, Lexi Thompson took a victors leap. Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. ‘It was everything I imagined,’ the 19-year-old said of her cannonball into Poppie’s Pond, a tradition for tournament winners at the Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
The Florida teen played a near-flawless game on Sunday, obliterating what was meant to an epic desert duel between her and the biggest name in women’s golf, Michelle Wie, who finished three shots behind in second, according to Golf Week. ’She played probably the best I’ve ever seen her play,’ said Wie of her opponent.
‘She hit the ball so well. She made everything.’
Thompson, the second youngest player to win a major behind Morgan Pressel, shot a Sunday best 4-under 68 for a 14-under 274 total and a three-stroke victory over Wie, who birdied the last.
The dive in the pond was almost overshadowed by Thompson’s caddie, Benji Thompson – no relation – who somersaulted into the water.
He said Lexi took an aggressive game plan and it paid off.
‘That’s her strength, so that’s what we try to use,’ he said.
‘No need to lay back to where everybody else is.’
At age 12, Thompson was the youngest golfer ever to qualify to play in the U.S. Women’s Open.
She turned professional in June 2010 at the age of 15.
On September 18, 2011, aged 16, Thompson set a new record as the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA tournament.
