CME Group Tour Championship: Brittany Lincicome, Lexi Thompson go back in time to near top

Two of the biggest stars on the LPGA Tour decided to go back in order to go forward Thursday.

It worked for both Brittany Lincicome and Lexi Thompson in the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort.

Lincicome, 33, took her mindset back to when she was 10 and just started playing the game. She birdied her first five holes on the way to an 8-under 64, one shot behind leader Amy Olson and tied with Japan's Nasa Hataoka, who grabbed the projected lead in the $1 million Race to the CME Globe with a round capped by a 40-foot birdie putt. Thompson, 23, scrapped her ball-flight philosophy, putter, and caddie, and is in fourth at 7 under.

Lincicome got in her way-back machine after a 9-year-old rode along with her in an event earlier in the week, and watching a high school freshman -- Lake Mary's Karoline Tuttle -- who's committed to Florida play with her in the pro-am Tuesday and Wednesday.

"... It's just funny how they play," Lincicome said. "They play carefree. There is no stress. They're not worried about money or rankings or anything. I really just wanted to go back to my 10-year-old self, and I think I accomplished that."

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Thompson, who capped last year in Naples by missing a short putt that could've won the event but still winning the $1 million Race to the CME Globe, is starting over in a lot of ways after a rocky season by her standards.

Thompson is winless and that would be the first time since 2013. Thompson and caddie Kevin McAlpine have split -- her brother Curtis is on the bag this week -- she has gone back to a draw that she played with early in her career, and has a new putter -- a Bettinardi style she has used before -- and even a new puppy.

Thompson had five birdies and an eagle -- she hit a 4-iron from 220 yards to 12 feet -- with three straight birdies on the back on Nos. 12-14.

"It was nice to have a day like this," said Thompson, who had father as her caddie until her brother failed to Monday qualify for this week's PGA Tour event. "I knew my game was there. It was just a matter of everything coming together and being 100 percent confident with my little swing changes that I've been working on.

"I just felt a lot more comfortable. I've been working on a few swing changes, so just getting more consistent with it. I worked on it a lot this last week at home. It's just being confident with it, aiming right, hitting my draw, and just playing how I used to play."

Earlier this year, Thompson revealed she has been going through some self-confidence body image  issues in a post on her Instagram account. 

"... What I’ve learned is that I’m not going to deprive myself in the one life I get to live, I’m going to enjoy life and my food," the post read in part. "You should never compare your body to others it’s a never ending battle of being miserable trust me. Your body is your body, it is beautiful so embrace it."

Thompson said she is making strides in that part of her life.

"It's definitely a process," she said. "I've been working on myself a lot with just going to therapists or just trying to figure myself out off the golf course, but I'm not just the golfer Lexi. That's what I want people to know, and not expect so much out of me."

CME Group Tour Championship

When: Today-Sunday

Where: Tiburón Golf Club at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort

Who: 72 of the top players on the LPGA Tour

Info: cmegrouptourchampionship.com, 593-3900