On the 72nd hole at last weekend’s Pelican Women’s Classic, 11-time LPGA winner Lexi Thompson stood over a par putt that would have defeated Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko and Sei Young Kim.
She missed it and once again must have rued yet another opportunity to win for the first time since June 2019.
Indeed, memories started flooding back to the US Women’s Open when the 26-year-old lost a five-shot lead with an abject short game display, and even further back to 2017 when despite winning the Race to the CME Globe (essentially the number one ranking), she missed a two-foot putt to win the final event of the year.
She isn’t worried, though, and on the eve of the closing event of the 2021 season commented, “I didn’t make the few that came down the stretch, but it’s an improvement. That’s really all I’m going for. I have a lot of golf to be played in my life”.
Lexi recently switched to the claw grip at the Solheim Cup in a bid to improve her performance on the greens (she currently 138th on tour in putting average).
Working for 3-5 hours every day on her putting, the one-time Major winner said “I don’t even know how my back is still attached. It takes a lot of hard work, and it’s all about confidence and getting the stroke consistent enough and holing the putts under pressure, which I’ll get to.”
A change to the claw grip may, as it does, look ugly, but it resulted in a much-improved putting display last week, eventually ranking fourth in a top-quality field, her best ranking for an age.
Working with mental coach John Denney and now alongside a new caddy, Will Davidson, Thompson has a new outlook on her game. Preferring to see golf as not being life or death, Davidson is reported by Golf Digest to say, “still be focused on things we need to be focused on but keep your mind off things that can creep in and cause doubt. Keep your mind occupied, and those doubts go away.”
Results look to be improving, too, with four top-12 finishes in her last five starts, and as I write, she is currently in the top half of the field at the CME Group Tour Championship. So far, she has parred all the par-five holes, perhaps disappointing for a player that never ranks outside the top three for distance, but there is also (so far) no bogeys in her first round.
This new outlook, new grip, new attitude and new team could finally be the thing that takes the child superstar over the line again. Only 12 when qualifying for her first US Women’s Open, this has already been a long career despite being four years away from her 30th birthday, but there is plenty still there.
“I think the caddie-player relationship is the biggest thing out here,” Thompson said. “If you have somebody out here who you’re not gelling with by your side, it can make a big impact. We get along so well; he’s great out there with me. We’re learning with each other; we’re six weeks in, we’re still learning. He’s been a great help and I’m fortunate to have him by my side.”
