While it was Maja Stark who secured her first major title at the US Women’s Open on Sunday, plenty of the talk surrounding the event concerned comments made by Lexi Thompson earlier in the day.
Lexi Thompson made her fifth appearance of the year at the US Women’s Open following her decision to step away from a full-time schedule at the end of 2024.
Unfortunately, the trip to Erin Hills did not prove to be a successful one for the 30-year-old. Thompson missed the cut after posting rounds of 73 and 74 over the first two days. She also found herself receiving criticism after clips showed Charley Hull getting frustrated over the pace of play.
Thompson took to social media to defend herself over the weekend. In an Instagram post, she insisted that she was not the cause of Hull’s frustration, noting that the round was painfully slow for everyone out on the golf course.
Rex Hoggard reacts to Lexi Thompson’s Instagram post after the US Women’s Open
Meanwhile, she has clearly taken exception with the notion that she had retired from the game. The 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner never used the word ‘retiring’ in her post announcing her decision to step away from a full-time schedule.
However, she did say it was time to say goodbye. And she will have received a number of questions about the prospect of retirement in the months since.
Nevertheless, she has gone on to play five times this year. And while she was in the mix at the Chevron Championship until the final round, she is still awaiting her first top 10 of the season.
With that, speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard spoke about Thompson’s decision to play a limited schedule, as well as the slow play criticism and her performance at the second major of the year.
“If that’s what she wants to do, I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with it. The idea that if she still wants to play at certain venues, then by all means, she has earned that right. We see it right now with Tiger Woods. We all want Tiger Woods to play more, I would argue that the women’s game needs and wants Lexi Thompson to play more. She is a draw at whatever event she goes to. I just would like to have some sort of clarity, I don’t remember her stepping away, whatever it was, two years ago when she sort of made the announcement, I remember retirement. If that’s not the case, that’s entirely fine by me,” he said.
“The part about her and slow play for two rounds – she missed the cut at the US Women’s Open – I dismiss that entirely because it’s a 156 player field on what was really a big ball park. And yes, she might have been slower than her playing competitors she was with, certainly Charley Hull, they’re very fast, and there’s never going to be anything slow, and I think in her Instagram post she actually points out that they were waiting on every single tee shot, so there is no reason for her to rush ahead to the next hole, or rush through a shot because it’s only going to get slower as you go, so the pace of play thing was sort of ridiculous.
“I would argue that the one thing that I got hung up on is you want to pick and choose your schedule, that’s all well and good, but in this same Instagram post, you say you weren’t ready for a major championship. That probably goes to the fact that you’re not playing a regular schedule. Those two things are mutually exclusive.”
How Nelly Korda reacted to Lexi Thompson’s announcement to step away from full-time golf
It does appear that it was not just those of us outside the ropes who misunderstood Thompson’s announcement last year.
Nelly Korda gave her reaction to Thompson’s news, and the world number one did mention retirement and the disappointment of her Solheim Cup teammate no longer being on tour.
“I honestly heard probably 15 minutes ago that she’s retiring. She’s had such an amazing career, I think. I’ve gotten to be on the team with her a couple times representing our country,” she said.
“I think she does an amazing job for the Tour. She spends so much time going to each Pro-Am party. She really dedicated her time to growing the game. It’s sad to see that she’s obviously leaving and not going to be out here with us anymore, but she’s had an amazing career, and I wish her the best in this new chapter of her life.”
Of course, as Hoggard notes, Thompson is a huge name in the game. It is a big boost whenever she decides to tee it up. It is much better for the game that she is continuing to play.
But it will be interesting to see how her performances this year impact how much she plays in the years ahead. It would be fantastic if she did decide to return to full-time golf in the future.
But it could easily go the other way if she decides the amount that she is playing now is simply not enough to give her a chance to win again.
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