Thompson Grabs His First Top 10 Finish of the Year

by Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson finished the fourth round of the Melwood Prince George's County Open with a solid four under par 67 which moved him to -14 for the tournament and was good enough for a sixth place finish. The top ten finish was Michael's first of 2011

Michael's fourth round got off to a bit of a slow start as he posted his lone bogey of the day at the first hole.  From there on however, he played really "slick" golf posting 5 birdies, hitting 11 out of 14 fairways, and reaching 16 out 18 greens in regulation.

After the round, via Twitter, Michael said

What a day! Had a lot of chances today and very excited about my first top ten of the year!  Roll Tide!!!  Let's keep it going tomorrow!

Michael's comment on "tomorrow" was referring to his participation in the US Open Sectional Qualifier in Rockville, Maryland.  The Woodmont Country Club will be hosting 112 players competing for 10 spots in the US Open.  The qualifier is a one day, 36 hole event.  The 10 qualifiers will get a coveted spot in the 111th US Open which will be held at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland in two weeks

After tomorrow's qualifier, Michael will be headed to Memphis, Tennessee to compete in the Fedex St.Jude Classic (PGA Tour event).

Update: Michael did not finish in the top 10 at the qualifier, thus he'll be missing the US Open this year.

Golf Channel Coverage Features the "Thompson Twins"

by Roz Roberts III

If you didn't catch the Golf Channel's coverage of the third round of the Melwood Prince George's County Open, you missed a lot of  live coverage of Nicholas and Michael Thompson (no relation).  The Golf Channel dubbed the pairing "The Thompson Twins" and used the 80's band of the same name to provide a soundtrack for highlight packages and song titles as keys to the round in the "Craig's List" segment.



Michael had slipped down the leader board a bit by the time the television coverage came on live.  He shot one over on the front nine notching just one birdie and making two bogeys.  However, once the coverage came on, Michael's game heated up.  The television coverage came on just as Michael was hitting his second shot on the par 4 tenth hole which he landed within 12 feet of the hole.   Michael's putter has been on fire all week and he made the birdie putt to get his back nine going.  He birdied the eleventh after making a 15 foot putt to move to one under for the day and then proceeded to rack up 5 consecutive pars before he birdied the last two holes of the day.  The three under 68 moved Michael to -10 for the tournament which is good enough for a tie for seventh.

Unfortunately for Michael and the rest of the field, Steve Wheatcroft has outpaced everyone and heads into the fourth round with an eight shot lead as he's -22 over the first three rounds.

Additional Third Round Video from PGATour.com
In addition to all of the Golf Channel coverage, four of the Shots of the Day from PGATour.com featured Michael.  Here they are:

Michael's Birdie on #10
Michael's Birdie on #11
Michael's Third Shot on #16
Michael's Birdie on #17

Photos from the Melwood Prince George's County Open
There's a few more photos that were taken yesterday.  You can see them here.

Round Four Info
Michael is paired with Gary Christian tomorrow and tees off at 12:05pm ET. 

The fourth round will be televised on the Golf Channel from 2:00pm - 4:30pm ET.

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Scorecard

Video - Melwood Prince George's County Open - Round 2 Recap

by Randy Roberts and Roz Roberts III

Michael Thompson had another solid day at the Melwood Prince George's County Open.  He shot 1 under par and ended in a tie for 4th.  Make sure to set your DVR tomorrow (Golf Channel from 2:30pm-5pm ET), because he had a ton of TV coverage today.  Here's a quick recap of Michael's first eight holes that they showed on the Golf Channel.





Round Three
There should be plenty of "Thompson" fans following Michael's group for the third round since Michael is paired with Nicholas Thompson (no relation).  The Thompsons tee off at 12:45am ET.

Online Links
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Scorecard

Round Two Photo

The following photo was posted on PGATour.com after round two.  The original can be found in this slideshow.  There's also some additional photos on the Getty Images website.

So Just How "Hot" Was Thompson's Start?

This image captured from the PGA Tour's mobile application after Michael completed his first round says it all. 

Hot Start For Michael Thompson

 

Melwood Prince George's County Open - Round 1 Recap
by Randy Roberts

Michael Thompson got out to a great start today on the Nationwide Tour, shooting a 6 under par 65 at the Melwood Prince George's County Open.  The 7:20 tee time proved to be in his favor as near perfect weather met him on the first tee.  He scored two birdies on the front 9, and then hit his stride on the back nine, scoring 5 more birdies before the day was through.  A lone bogey on hole 13 was the only miscue of the day.  So hot was his start that for parts of the morning, he held the outright lead, which eventually settled out into a tie for 2nd once the second wave of players made their way through.

Thompson got some good press as a result of his great play today.  On PGATour.com he was mentioned in Joe Chemycz article "Nine-birdie performance has Baryla ahead in Maryland"

"Thompson, like Baryla, is a member of the PGA TOUR this year but hasn't had much luck in his rookie season. Runner-up at the 2007 U.S. Amateur, an All-American at Alabama and a Palmer Cup team member hasn't translated into instant success. 

"It reminds me a lot of when I first turned pro because I was a big fish in a little pond in college and then when I got on the Hooters Tour I was a little fish again," he said. "I'm going through the exact same thing here, I'm a little fish again." 

Thompson has made only five cuts in 11 TOUR starts with a T14 at the Puerto Rico Open his best effort to date. 

"I've just got to fight through that, keep believing in myself, keep working hard and days like today will happen. Hopefully they happen four days in a row. It's all a process."

You can read the rest of the article here.

If he continues doing as well as he did the first round, he is sure to get some good coverage on the Golf Channel tomorrow.  His 12:25 EST tee time lines up with the televised coverage so you might want to go set your DVR now.  Today's televised coverage did not start until after he had already finished playing, so he only had one replay shown.

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