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Chun In-gee wins Women's PGA Championship as Lexi Thompson misses out yet again

Chun In-gee wins Women's PGA Championship as Lexi Thompson misses out - GETTY IMAGES
Chun In-gee wins Women's PGA Championship as Lexi Thompson misses out - GETTY IMAGES

Lexi Thompson’s major demons cruelly leapt into destruction mode yet again on Sunday when the American suffered a putting meltdown over the final holes of the Women’s PGA on Sunday night to hand victory to Korean Chun In-gee .

Thompson, 27, missed a put from two feet on the 14th when in the driving seat at Congressional and despite birdieing the 15th, she made a hash on the 16th with her shortgame and then three-putted the 17th to lose out by one to Chun, who won her third major title courtesy of a pair of 75s on the weekend.

Thompson finished joint second with Australian Minjee Lee. It was Thompson’s ninth top-four finish in a major since winning her first, and so far only, major title as a teenager in 2014. Clearly distressed, Thompson declined to talk to the media afterwards, leaving Chun to celebrate her £1.1million winning cheque.

Lexi Thompson of the United States reacts to a missed putt for birdie on the 17th green during the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club on June 26, 2022 in Bethesda, Maryland. - GETTY IMAGES
Lexi Thompson of the United States reacts to a missed putt for birdie on the 17th green during the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club on June 26, 2022 in Bethesda, Maryland. - GETTY IMAGES

Chun, also 27, led by five after a first round 64 - equaling the largest 18-hole advantage in the history of women’s majors - and was six ahead at halfway point. She went into the final round with a three-shot cushion but looked to have blown her opportunity when she made four bogeys in the first nine and Thompson moved two ahead.

But then Thompson’s putting stroke absconded. "It just means a lot because I didn’t have any wins for three-and-a-half years, so I really appreciate it," Chun said, after a five-under total added the PGA crown to that of the US Women’s Open she won in 2015 and the Evian Masters in 2016.

In a tie for 10th came Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow, with England’s Georgia Hall in a tie for 21st.

On the DP World Tour - formerly the European Tour, China’s Haatong Li beat Belgium Thomas Pieters on the first play-off hole of the BMW International in Munich. Li holed a 30-footer and, after a four-year wait for a title, was extremely emotional after Pieters missed his 10-footer to continue the shootout.

"I almost gave up the game last year after struggling with it for so long," Li said. "This is unbelievable."