A teenage girl defeated a field of 76 males to win a professional golf tournament.
Alexis “Lexi” Thompson, who turned 16 on Feb. 10, defeated Brett Bergeron in a two-hole playoff on her home course at TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Fla., on Monday.
Thompson and Bergeron tied after 18 holes at 4-under-par 68. They both parred the first extra hole, then Thompson won when Bergeron three-putted the second playoff hole for a bogey. Thompson two-putted for par.
Thompson won $1,100.
The course is the former home of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic. Thompson played from tees that measured 94 percent of the distance of those played by males.
In 2007, Thompson, then 12, became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. In 2008 she won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship.
She turned pro in June 2010. Shortly after, she tied for second in the Evian Masters, finishing one stroke behind the winner.
In December 2010, she petitioned the LPGA to allow her to play in up to 12 tournaments a year using sponsor exemptions, double the six allowed to non-members by LPGA rules. The LPGA denied her petition but changed its rules to allow non-members to participate in Monday qualifying.
An older brother, Nicholas Thompson, plays on the PGA Tour.
