GAINESVILLE, Va. — Lexi Thompson is not certain whether or not this yr’s Solheim Cup can be her final as a participant, however she confirmed her dedication to returning the cup to the US by making an early go to to the demanding venue the place the People will tackle Europe in September.
Thompson, who introduced on the U.S. Girls’s Open in Could that this yr could be her final enjoying a full LPGA Tour schedule, is 14th within the Solheim Cup standings, which implies she may have to depend on a captain’s decide. However U.S. captain Stacy Lewis instructed The Related Press on Monday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Membership that Thompson has nothing to fret about.
“She’s proper the place she must be. She’s struggled, however I believe making the [retirement] announcement and form of getting that monkey off her again, you have seen some higher golf come after that,” Lewis stated. “And holds one other card that no one else has. And that is the expertise. And I do know she’s a kind of gamers that performs higher when she will get right here, too.
“I instructed her, ‘I do not want you to play 30 occasions. I simply want you to be shut.'”
The 29-year-old Thompson, who turned professional at age 15, made her Solheim Cup debut at Colorado Golf Membership in 2013 and hasn’t missed it since. This yr’s could be her seventh, however she hasn’t been a part of a successful staff since 2017 in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Europe gained in 2019 in Scotland and in 2021 in Ohio and retained the cup with a draw final yr at Finca Cortesin in Spain. Lewis and European captain Suzann Pettersen are reprising their roles because the cup strikes again to even-numbered years, away from the Ryder Cup.
Thompson has maintained a powerful document regardless of the People’ struggles, going 9-7-7 general and 5-2-1 within the troublesome alternate-shot format. She was 3-1 final yr, 2-0 in alternate shot.
“She’s obtained a combat that nobody else has,” Lewis stated. “Final yr in Spain, she was down via a pair holes and anyone was like, ‘Do you might want to go see Lexi?’ And I used to be like, ‘No, she’s high quality.'”
Thompson’s energy ought to give her a bonus at RTJ, a giant ballpark on the shores of Lake Manassas about 35 miles west of Washington, D.C., that has hosted the Presidents Cup and PGA Tour occasions.
“I positively hit lots of drivers,” Thompson stated of her observe spherical a day earlier alongside Lewis. “It is on the longer aspect. I did not have too many wedges in on the market.”
Lewis stated she favors a troublesome setup at RTJ that may favor a participant like Thompson.
“The place there is a penalty for a miss, I believe that can play into our gamers somewhat bit higher,” Lewis stated. “I believe we’ve got a number of extra ball-strikers than they do on Workforce Europe.”
Thompson skipped a serious, the Evian Championship in France, to affix Lewis at RTJ.
“Any time I can have the ability to assist out and characterize Workforce USA, that is highest on my listing,” Thompson stated.
Thompson left some wiggle room in her retirement announcement, saying she hadn’t determined how a lot she’s going to play sooner or later. Requested whether or not she would attempt to make Solheim groups after this yr, she stated, “I actually have not actually thought that a lot into it.”
Lewis predicted that Thompson would return to the occasion in a unique function.
“Oh, yeah,” Lewis stated. “She’ll be a captain.”
