Reflecting On Golf Prodigies- Lexi Thompson Retirement

Matt Adams reacts to Lexi Thompson’s announcement that she will retire at the end of the current LGPA Tour season, and reflects on her career that started as a child prodigy.

golf what can I say after all these years you have played such an important role for the majority of my life you welcom me into your world at such a young age and for that I am forever grateful though our relationship has been complicated at times you’ve taught me resilience patience and the power of perseverance you’ve shown me the highs and lows of competition the thrill of victory and the lessons learned and defeat I am so grateful to you for all the amazing moments and memories you have given me from qualifying for the usw woman’s open as a 12-year-old to winning my first lpj tournament at 16 winning a major was one of the proudest moments of my career and teeing it up with the men in Las Vegas was a week I will never forget representing my country in the Olympics and soul I’m cup was not just an honor but also a privilege that I will treasure for the rest of my life you haven’t always been easy on me or fair for that matter but through all the ups and downs you’ve given me a platform to inspire others and positively impact the world that has been a driving force that kept me playing and relentlessly working to be better to all the girls who have cheered for me you have been my inspiration my encouragement and my strength on the days I were tough and I wanted to give up your support motivated me to dig deep and keep competing you have always been a family affair in the Thompson home I will always cherish the moments my family and I shared with you across the world playing alongside my brothers and having their unwavering support made each round even more special I wouldn’t be in this position today if it weren’t for the love sacrifice and dedication of my mom and dad words cannot express my gratitude for always being there for me and pushing me to be my best every single day the friendships I’ve formed with fellow players caddies coaches and fans are relationships that have enriched my life and ways beyond the golf course these bonds will remain long after for my final round to the lpj tour my sponsors and to all those who have supported me throughout my career I am deeply grateful for your belief in me your encouragement made every Victory sweeter and every challenge more bearable although this has been an amazing journey it hasn’t always been an easy one since I was 12 years old my life as a golfer has been a whirlwind of constant attention scrutiny and pressure the cameras are always on capturing every swing and every moment on and off the golf course social media never sleeps with comments and criticisms flooding in from around the world it can be exhausting to maintain a smile on the outside while grappling with struggles on the inside by opening up about my own battles I’ve been able to connect with others who feel isolated in their struggles offering them a sense of community and understanding each time I share it reinforces the message that it’s okay to not be okay and that seeking support is a sign of strength not weakness while it is never easy to say goodbye it is indeed time at the end of 2024 I will be stepping away from a full professional golf schedule I’m excited to enjoy the remainder of the year as there are still goals I want to accomplish I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life time with my family friends and my trusted companion Leo I will always look for ways to contribute to this sport and Inspire the next generation of golfers and of course I look forward to a little time for myself with deep gratitude and much love Lexi Thompson all right Lexi Thompson in her own words as to what she’s doing and why she is doing it and you know it it raises a question and I think it it deserves to be noted when you’re talking about what Lexi Thompson accomplished as a player the the debate right now through as she called it the social media which which you know constantly has comments and criticism those were those were the that’s the phrase that she used to talk about it was that did Lexi Thompson accomplish enough right and I and I say it that way and let it linger for a second because it raises the question of against what standard of judgment do you make a comment like that is it based upon commercial success is it based upon popularity or is it based upon the earlier that we got to know them thus the sense of the potential that they possessed accordingly right Lexi Thompson bursts on the scene at the US Women’s Open at 12 years old then at the time the youngest it’s since been Eclipse by Lucy Lee which again is an interesting conversation because we’re talking about child prodigies and when you look at child prodigies across in our parochial sport of of golf when you look at child prodigies across the the Spectrum you know the first I wouldn’t say the very first child prodigy probably the very first true child prodigy in the game was young Tom Morris and young Tom literally redefined the game young Tom was dead by age 24 but he redefined the game he he was the first player now benefiting from the gutty golf ball but he was a first player that fully employed the use of irons instead of all long noosed Woods uh and and he changed how the game was played he started to routinely shoot SC scores in the 70s which I don’t even know what the equivalency would be today it probably would be starting to talk about a golfer who routinely was shooting scores in the 50s by comparison but young Tom was the child prodigy such as he was was shortlived on this Earth consumed by grief and his own demons but I’m going to jump ahead to he was probably the next child prodigy was Bobby Jones Bobby Jones ultimately retired at the age of 28 so what we see here is a pattern where the child prodigies while young as they are introduced to us generally are still young when they exit the game right at least on a full-time basis Lexi is 29 years old old right now she said she is going to play out the rest of the season and she’s in a major championship this week and the season’s still before her maybe a weight will be lifted off her shoulders and and she’ll do something amazing between now and the end of the year maybe she’ll do it multiple times so I just thought it was interesting when you look at you know could you call Nancy Lopez a a child prodigy I think so right I believe it the the New Mexico Women’s Open I think she won it 12 years old or something crazy and then what she did when she came came out as a rookie in the LPGA and winning so many times so she was one that Nancy Lopez was able to settle into the role and find her career path winning what 48 times on the LPGA multiple major championships different times maybe not as much scrutiny maybe not as much attention maybe not the piercing and peering eyes of social media that impacts some more than others and I also think that that’s a generational thing I think that if if you grew up in those same years and didn’t have the piercing eyes of social media upon you it’s hard for you to judge someone who grew up in a world where they never knew anything else but particularly as as you heard earlier in the show where Lexi was talking about the fact that you know Fitness is very important to her so obviously all of these things that are tether with a female athlete in all of those areas that they feel constantly under scrutiny and judgment scrutiny is a word that she used scrutiny and pressure that she was talking about I think of other child prodigies uh Ty Trion when when when he burst on the scene Rio Ishikawa who if memory serves me when he won for the first time in the Japanese tour he was 15 years old Rio ishika is now 32 he qualified for this year’s uh Us open at Pinehurst number two in the final stage qualifying in Japan and then you look at even though certainly s Jack Nicholas was a child prodigy but again didn’t have all of these other tethered areas where where the world is there to judge whether you’re impacted that or not impacted by that it’s there Tiger Woods is probably as he is in in many areas the anomaly where as a child prodigy as a kid that we saw in that Mike Douglas show at what two years old and change that went on to fulfill the promise but when you look in the periphery of child of Tiger Woods in his life he paid a price too I’m not saying that he was a victim don’t get me wrong I’m just saying that he paid a price for it there there was if you look at Tiger’s life outside the ropes there was a price to be paid with Lexi of course especially where we are with the World of Golf right now which he referenced that mental health is part of this story here’s Lexi on that honestly just staying true to myself um being out here can be a lot um it can be lonely um sorry if I get emotional I said I wasn’t going to um I just think you know especially with what’s happened in golf as of recent too A lot of people don’t they don’t realize a lot of what we go through as a professional athlete I mean and I’ll be the last one to say like throw me a pity party this the last thing I want but you know we’re doing we’re doing what we love we’re trying the best every single day and um you know we’re not perfect we’re humans words hurt um and it’s hard to overcome sometimes but having the people around you that love you and support you and I feel like that’s that’s been the biggest thing for me I might not have a huge friend group but um but to have the people that matter the most around me have gotten me through some really hard times and I think it’s a lot for everybody around out here or in any professional sport a lot of people don’t know what we go through and the amount of training and hard work that we put ourselves through it’s it’s a lot and I don’t think we deserve I I think we deserve a lot more credit than what we get well I mean I I feel like mental health is such an important thing just for the everyday person um not just athletes every everybody out here has their own struggles um that’s why I always say just don’t judge anybody because you don’t know what they’re going through and you know what they have going on in their mind and their heart um and just be Gent gentle with them um but yeah I think we all have our own struggles especially out here I mean unfortunately in golf you lose more than you win so it’s an ongoing battle to continue to put yourself out there in front of the cameras and continuing to work hard and maybe not seeing the results you want and getting criticized for it um so it it’s hard um I will say like yes I mean I’ve struggled with it I mean I don’t I don’t think there’s somebody out here that hasn’t it’s just a matter of how well you hide it which is very sad and it’s it’s an important thing to address and you know be okay with getting help and getting the support and surrounding yourself with the people that support you and love you because there’s always people that do care so much about you and um will help you get through those tough moments I think it’s important to remember that this is the 18th US Women’s Open for Lexi Thompson and just using that as as the the marker that means that she’s been in our Consciousness for for almost two decades and if you look across the spectrum of those two decades yeah right you’re talking about some great great players probably most prominently defined by anuka soram from Sweden Michelle we was in that mix and another one that came out as a child prodigy that walked away from the game early uh after having a great career nonetheless but what I’m getting at is during those two decades there was also that con an murmur for players from the United States to say when are we going to see the Next Great American LPGA player right so that’s just more weight that’s upon the shoulders there’s another element to it because as we know the challenge for Lexi Thompson has been with her putter right how many wins more wins would she have even Majors would she have save but for that Putter and if you remember we were talking about this this issue of of mental health and and and awareness and Peter malau was on with us recent winner on the PJ tour Peter is a great great Putter and I asked him at that time do you think that putting is a window into the soul and he did what great Putters do kind of brushed it off a little bit like I don’t know if it’s a window into the soul I think there’s a lot of people that struggle with the flat stick in their hand that if you ask them that same question if they struggle they go you better believe it is but it’s the people that are great Putters that that is the reason why I have a personal philosophy that says that great putting and your ability to handle pressure while it’s not tied in together I don’t mean to present it as such I’m saying these are two separate attributes but I think it comes down to how you are wired we like to believe that it’s based upon some idea of toughness mental toughness Etc but I think it’s based upon a natural gift because great Putters never make it seem like putting is something that is very complicated you ever notice that they’re just kind of like yeah I see the target I react to Target and I putt people who struggle putting hear that and go you might as well tell me you L suit a cloud and when it comes to pressure again we like to build this story about someone is tougher than everybody else a Jack Nicholas or Tiger Woods or what have you tougher than than everybody else but then you go wait a minute Larry Nelson fought in heavy combat in Vietnam he’s the three-time major Champion he had bullets spitting over his head you gonna tell me that Larry Nelson isn’t a tough guy or you see guys that could run through a wall from the NFL that come out and play at a at a charity golf tournament and they’re shaking on the first te you gonna tell me that’s not a tough guy that this guy’s not as tough as as golfer come on I I just don’t buy it so that’s why I go back to this idea of somehow some way it comes down to how you’re wired and that’s a gift you can develop it you could work on it but it ultimately is a gift and that’s part of what makes the greatest of the great in any sport who and what they are for Lexi Thompson whatever path that she decides to do next I hope it’s a path that that she finds what she’s looking for and she finds peace and happiness