As kids, many of us dreamed about making the winning basket in the championship game, a Super Bowl touchdown, a goal in the World Cup as the clock ran out, a tough putt to win a major.
Lexi Thompson didn’t just dream. She lived that dream, winning her first LPGA Tour event at age 16 to put her firmly on pro golf’s radar.
Twelve years later, Thompson competed in her first-ever PGA TOUR event, joining six other female professionals to do the same thing.
Thompson was given an exemption into the Shriners Children’s Open. Patrick Linsey, Executive Director of the Shriners Children’s Open, said, “We are eager to have Lexi on the course and continue to break through barriers, just as our more than 1.5 million patients do every day.”
For the tournament, TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, played to 7,255 yards with a par of 71. The average yardage for an LPGA tournament is between 6,200 and 6,600 yards.
Thompson Has Distance
Most golf fans and students of the game would agree that distance is the obvious issue with a woman playing a professional golf tournament with men. LPGA Tour players get much more distance out of their shots than an amateur woman player—but is it enough?
Thompson hits her driver an average of 275 yards and a 7-iron 165. Thompson ranks 12th on the LPGA Tour for driving distance. As a comparison, Justin Thomas hits his 7-iron 185 yards and his driver 300.
I Am Here
The slogan adopted for Thompson in the first Tour event to allow a woman to play on a sponsor’s exemption since 2018, was “I Am Here.” The phrase was intended to show she was good enough to earn a spot in the event, breaking down the barriers women golfers have had in place for a long time.
Thompson repeatedly stated she hopes this endeavor inspires people who think their dreams are unattainable. The T-shirt created in support of Thompson playing in the
Shriners Children’s Open reads:
I AM FIERCE.
I AM AN OLYMPIAN.
I AM INSPIRATIONAL.
I AM A MAJOR CHAMPION.
I AM POWERFUL.
I AM DETERMINED.
I AM STRONG.
I AM WOMAN.
Lexi Thompson Holds Up Under Pressure
It’s one thing to get a sponsor’s exemption and another to be the only female in the field with a sponsor’s exemption. If you had any doubt about Thompson’s playing ability and her strength under pressure, she certainly showed up.
Thursday started a little slow with a double bogey on the seventh hole and a score of 73. Thompson knew she had more to show. The second round was quite a bit better, and with back-to-back birdies after making the turn, it looked like Thompson might make the 36-hole cut. But two late bogeys left her with a tournament score of even par, three shots shy of the cut line.
However, she was far from last in the field. As a female golfer, I am proud of this performance and what it will do for women’s golf.
What Does This Mean For Women’s Golf?
Women’s golf has been growing significantly since the pandemic. Women of all ages (especially juniors) are taking up the game, leading to more than 6.4 million women golfers on the course in 2022 in the U.S.
Golfers like Thompson inspire young girls to break down barriers and show what women are capable of on the golf course.
The distance factor between men and women will always be significant but we all know there is more to golf than distance (if you’ve ever missed a one-foot putt, you know what I mean).
My Take On It
I started playing golf when I was seven years old and went on to play some professional golf but discovered the golf business was a better fit for me.
However, watching Thompson out there with the men brings me right back to my junior golf days, standing on the putting green night after night as the sun was going down. When I was over that 10-foot putt, the one I dreamed about making to win the tournament, I certainly didn’t think about the LPGA events.
I thought about the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship.
Wouldn’t you?
With golfers like Lexi Thompson showing the world what women are capable of, she is opening doors for my daughter and future generations of golfers with those same dreams.
I can’t wait to see her (and other LPGA professionals) get to stick around one of these events for the weekend. It’s coming.
