Lexi Thompson flirted with disaster. Then came something special

Lexi Thompson’s reaction said it all.

When a golfer hits a tee shot that could find trouble, they stare it down intently. When a golfer hits a tee shot that is, without question, absolutely dead? They head straight to the bag to grab another ball. It’s the equivalent of a pitcher giving up such a monster home run that he turns to the umpire before it’s even cleared the fence: One more Rawlings, please.

Thompson’s home run came in the second round of the AIG Women’s Open on the 17th at St. Andrews, a brutish par-4 that’s among the world’s most famous holes and most challenging holes. She chose driver off the tee but blocked it too far right, over the iconic Old Course Hotel, where (to extend the baseball analogy) it cleared the fence. By the time the ball had landed Thompson was already back at her bag. One more Maxfli, please.

It seemed like perhaps the damage had already been done. Thompson arrived at No. 17 at 3 over par. The cut line was at 4 over. Suddenly she was hitting her third shot from the tee on the toughest hole on the course. Thompson switched from driver to fairway wood. She played away from trouble, sending it left into the fescue instead.

There were layers of pain built into this misery. Not only was Thompson headed for a brutal missed cut; this was a brutal missed cut stemming from an O.B. tee shot on her 35th hole. This was a brutal missed cut in the final major of the year. This was a brutal missed cut in the final major of the year in which Thompson announced her retirement. This was a brutal missed cut in what could theoretically be Thompson’s final major ever.

But then it wasn’t.

From the fescue, Thompson did the impossible. She sent a long-iron scampering up the fairway along the ground and up the slope at the front of the green, where it settled some six feet from the hole. When she curled that putt into the edge, she’d officially turned a disastrous double-or-worse into a triumphant bogey. Now she was at 4 over. Right on the cut line.

“That feels like Lexi. In one portrait,” said announcer Grant Boone as the ball hit the bottom of the cup. He was right. The willingness to suffer through some gut-punch, oh-no heartbreak. The ability to get back up and fight again. Good. Bad. Whoa. Again.

Thompson’s career has been defined as much by her near-misses as by her talent and successes. If that seems harsh, that’s because it can be a harsh business. But there’s beauty in the pursuit, too — in the hurdles the sport sets up and the maneuvers required to leap over them.

At 18, Thompson ripped her tee shot down the left side of the fairway. From there she landed wedge just long of the hole, but spun it back. One thing remained: she rolled in her putt for birdie, wrapping up a second-round 1-under 71 in style, making the cut with one shot to spare.

There’s more to play for this weekend, too. Thompson hopes to wrap up her season as a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team, just as she did in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. (They’re switching to even-numbered years this season.) The team consists of nine automatic qualifiers (the top seven players in the U.S. Solheim Cup points standings and the top two players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings not already eligible) and three more captain’s picks, which means Thompson will need some help; she enters this week at No. 14 in the points standings.

“Very hungry,” she said earlier in the week, asked how hungry she was to make the team. “Anytime I can represent my country, it’s my No. 1 goal to be on this team. That’s nothing like it. I feel like it brings out an energy and talent from all of us players that fans don’t see every week. I think they really enjoy it.

“You’re not only playing for yourself. Golf is such an individual sport. We get the opportunity to bring 12 girls together, build those friendships and relationships, play under our captain that we look up to. It’s something different. It’s special.”

It’ll be nice, then for Thompson to have two more days to continue her audition in front of team captain Stacy Lewis.

Thompson didn’t talk to the media Friday evening; I’m not sure if she was requested. But something she said ahead of the tournament spoke to her weekend chances.

“Weeks like this you just have to stay in the moment and take one shot at a time, be patient, know there will be bad breaks or some bad shots. You just have to get through them with a positive attitude and keep on going.”

This weekend, Thompson will keep going. She’s earned that chance.