Lexi Thompson's Las Vegas trip was a Cool Golf Thing

Lexi Thompson has become one of professional golf's most enigmatic figures. There's a bit of early-career Phil Mickelson in her: prodigious talent including big power but some flaws that have flared up in big moments, especially in major championships. Unlike Mickelson, Thompson did peel off a major early on, but that was almost a decade ago: the then-Kraft Nabisco (now Chevron) Championship in 2014.

Thompson's 2023 has been uneven at best. Her selection to the Solheim Cup team looked suspect until it turned out to be inspired, as she won three straight matches at Finca Cortesin after a shanked pitch cost her side their first match of the event and a decidedly frosty post-round press conference raised further questions about her toughness.

When she was selected to play in her first PGA Tour event, last week's Shriners Children's Open, I'll admit I initially let a bit of cynicism guide my reaction. I haven't been opposed to women occasionally teeing it up in men's events, but Thompson? Now?

Having assumed that even one of the Tour's easier golf courses might overwhelm and expose her iffy short game, I was struck by how, for lack of a better term, normal she looked out there, even as she missed the cut by three. Her second-round 69 was a solid round by any measure.

While the DP World Tour and Ladies European Tour have figured out ways to have tournaments where men compete against women, the PGA Tour is trailing in this important trend. European Solheim Cupper Linn Grant steamrolled a mixed field including 78 DP World Tour players, from appropriately staggered tees, by nine shots in 2022. When will there be an official PGA Tour event Lexi Thompson and her fellow LPGA Tour stars can win?

Cool Golf Things

March 22, 2019

Browse our not-too-long essays about cool things in golf.