Thompson misses cut on PGA Tour debut

Lexi Thompson fell short of becoming the first woman for 78 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour at the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas.

The Solheim Cup star was only the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event and bounced back from a first-round 73 to card a two-under-par 69.

That left her on level par overall but, with the cut at three under, it was not enough to allow her to compete over the weekend.

After bogeying her opening hole, the 10th, she birdied five of the next 10 to sit at two under par and well in contention, only for bogeys at the fifth and eighth holes to scupper her chances.

Her score was nevertheless only the second sub-70 round by a woman in PGA Tour history after Michelle Wie West at the 2006 Sony Open.

"It was a special week," said Thompson on pgatour.com.

"Seeing the people out there and hearing the cheers and seeing all the little kids, that’s what I play for. I think I said that on the last hole, a little kid screamed out, 'Go Lexi, you’re great,’ and that just makes my day.

"No matter what I’m shooting, I could shoot 80, and they’d be like, ‘You did great’. That’s what it’s all about."

Cameron Champ and Lanto Griffin are tied atop the leaderboard at the halfway stage.

Champ shot a 67 and Griffin turned in a 66 to move to 12-under. They were one stroke ahead of Sweden'sHenrik Norlander, who fired a second-round 64.

Champ followed an opening 63 with a colorful card Friday. He began on the back nine and had five birdies and a bogey through his first seven holes before adding two of each on the front nine.

Griffin, meanwhile, carded five straight birdie threes from the 18th hole through the fourth. Griffin's only win on tour came in 2019, while Champ has three career victories but none since July