Heading to the weekend in Las Vegas, there’s a lot on the line with a full house at the top of the leaderboard.
The story of the first two rounds was Lexi Thompson, the 28-year-old who became the seventh woman to compete on the PGA Tour. Although she missed the cut, she captured the attention of the golf world, especially during her second round when she shot 2-under 69 and was well in contention to make the cut through most of her final nine holes.
However, near the top of the leaderboard is a host of players, including a pair of former PGA Tour winners looking to break long cold streaks and others looking for their first Tour victory.
Here’s what we learned from the second round of the Shriners Children’s Open.
Mental approach propelling Cameron Champ
Cameron Champ is taking it easy on himself.
He knows golf is hard. He knows he hasn’t played like the three-time PGA Tour winner he is. He knows he has to do something special to earn his Tour card for next season.
Champ followed up his opening 63 with a 4-under 67 in the second round and sits at 12 under, leading in Las Vegas searching for a big turnaround. In 25 starts this season, Champ has made only eight cuts. That’s why he knows he needs to take it easy, especially when things aren’t going well.
“Obviously got off to a great start, but still was kind of just — my swing really wasn’t there today,” Champ said. “We kind of figured out at the end it was a ball position deal, kind of throwing my rhythm off, and I was, not forcing it, but kind of — it just didn’t feel right. But like I said, with the way I felt like I was hitting it, I was just able to score.
“Again, that’s the main thing. I feel like today I turned an even par, 1-under, at least coming down the stretch into a 4-under, which was crucial. Besides that, my game feels good. Off the tee, irons, everything felt great. It’s just one of those days in golf.”
Champ said he felt as if he was his own worst enemy when his game wasn’t there. He was turning decent rounds into bad ones, piling up missed cut after missed cut. He’s working on the mental side of the game, and in turn, it’s showing on the leaderboard.
“It’s all a mindset. You can convince yourself of one thing and you can convince yourself of another. It’s just a matter of what you want to believe. That’s just really what I’ve been trying to emphasize.”
Five straight birdies shoot Lanto Griffin to the top
Lanto Griffin had a strong start to the Shriners Children’s Open, shooting 7 under in the first round. His second round took a while to get going, but he got hot and carried that momentum to the top of the leaderboard.
Griffin had five straight birdies – and six in seven holes – in his 5-under 66 on Friday, tying Champ on top of the leaderboard at 12 under. He birdied his seventh hole of the day, No. 16, and added another at No. 18 before making another four straight on Nos. 1-4. A poor tee shot on the par-3 fifth hole resulted in his lone bogey, but it didn’t prevent Griffin from earning a spot in the final group come Saturday.
“The back nine is kind of where you want to get it on this course, and the goal today was to get a couple under,” Griffin said. “Anytime you shoot a good first round, you want to get one or two early and then it settles you down and you can keep pushing. That didn’t happen today, but I made a really good birdie on 16 and 18 to kind of settle me into the round and then birdied 1, 2, 3, 4 to turn, and then it was just kind of just get in a groove and ride it.”
Griffin has one PGA Tour victory, coming in the 2019 Houston Open. Similar to Champ, Griffin came into the week 201st in the FedEx Cup standings. For him to keep his Tour card in 2024, he needs to finish in the top 125. A win would move him to 79th.
Lexi Thompson impresses PGA Tour pros
The talk of the first two rounds of the Shriners Children’s Open was Thompson, who became the seventh woman to compete on the PGA Tour. She shot 2-under 69 on Friday but finished at even-par 142 for the week, missing the cut.
However, she was the talk of the golf world, and she turned the heads of PGA Tour professionals in Las Vegas, too.
“Yeah, it was cool. It was fun,” said Trevor Werbylo, who played alongside Thompson in the first two rounds and sits at 8 under. “Obviously there was a pretty big crowd kind of following her, so that brought some good energy to the group. She played great. It was fun to watch.”
The biggest galleries of the week followed Thompson, who said she had one of the best weeks of her life. She was even inside of the cut line for much of the back nine until a pair of bogeys ultimately pushed her out.
“We were kind of rooting for her the last few holes to maybe make a birdie or two to make the cut, but it was fun,” Werbylo said. “She was great, her game was great, and the crowd was awesome.”
Luke List hoping to go back-to-back
Last week, Luke List hit a 45-foot birdie putt to win a five-way playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. This week, his strong play has traveled out west.
List sits at 9 under following two rounds of play, and he’s well in position to try and win for the second week in a row.
“If I can keep driving it well, then there’s a lot of opportunities out there, especially the par-5s,” List said. “Just being patient. Obviously, after last week your expectations are high, but I feel like I’m rested and ready to go for this weekend.”
Also in the mix is Henrik Norlander, one of the four players who fell to List in the playoff. He sits at 11 under and said he doesn’t have any fatigue after a long couple weeks.
“It’s a lot easier to play good golf compared to bad golf,” Norlander said. “I’ve been playing bad golf for two years, so this is quite fun. It doesn’t take much energy to make birdies.”
Checking in on the defending champ
Tom Kim was stellar last year at the Shriners Children’s Open, going 72 holes without a bogey en route to his second PGA Tour win.
This year, he hasn’t quite had the same stellar play, but he’s on to the weekend.
Kim has fired matching 68s to open his title defense and is at 6 under, six shots behind the leaders. This year, he has carded three bogeys and a double in addition to 11 birdies.
