“It was a very special feeling” - Lexi Thompson reflects on her PGA Tour debut at the Shriners Children’s Open

Lexi Thompson became the seventh woman golfer in the history of golf to officially compete in a men's tournament. She has been playing at this week's Shriners Children's Open Championship, which got underway on Thursday and will run through the weekend to have its finale on Sunday, October 15.

Following the inaugural round of the tournament, Lexi Thompson settled in the T76 position. After playing in the first round, she opened up about her debut on the PGA Tour.

Thompson said (via Golf.com):

“Yeah, it was a very special feeling. I hit a great shot into 1 and probably hit one of my worst putts and then hit an amazing putt on No. 2, so it was nice to kind of have a good stroke there and make birdie on a more difficult hole.”

Thompson admitted that she was anxious before the competition. She compared her anxiety to the nervousness she felt while competing in the Solheim Cup last month.

“I had a little bit of nerves, but not too much,” Thompson said. “Kind of similar to Solheim, similar nerves, but that’s kind of what you play for.”

Thompson started her game with a birdie on the second hole followed by a bogey on the third. However, things suddenly went off the track and she made a double bogey on the seventh and a bogey on the eighth. She carded three birdies, two bogeys and one double bogey to settle for a score of one-over-par.

Lexi Thompson's odd for the 2023 Shriners Children's Open

Thompson had a pretty good start at the 2023 Shriners Children's Open. According to USA Today Sport, she can have a good finish at the tournament with odds of +9000 to finish in the top 40.

Here are the odds of Lexi Thompson for the 2023 Shriners children's Open for different positions:

Win: 2,500 to 1(+250000)
Top 5: 400 to 1 (+40000)
Top 10: 150 to 1 (+15000)
Top 20: 45 to 1 (+4500)
Top 30: 18 to 1 (+1800)
Top 40: 9 to 1 (+900)

Following the first round of the tournament on Thursday, Beau Hossler topped the leaderboard with a score of under nine. He played a round of 62 to finish one stroke ahead of JT Poston and Cameron Champ.

David Thompson finished in two-way for fourth place with Lanto Griffin followed by Luke List, who won the 2023 Sanderson Farms Championship last week. List settled in sixth place in a tie with Nick Taylor and Matti Schmid.

The second round of the tournament is scheduled for Friday, October 13. Golfers will tee off at 9:50 a.m. ET.