Lexi to Retire End of 2024 Season

[Naptime]

From a public relations angle, Nelly is peaking at a good time for a passing of a torch to a new cohort.  Insert Nelly in the spots that Lexi leaves and the beat goes on.  I suspect Nelly is in a better position to look out for herself because she is an adult, rather than being crazy famous as a mid teen.  And her family seems to know the drill of pro sports.

[m d g]

8 hours ago, Ferguson said:

Burned out perhaps?  That means a return of some sort is probable.  

 

 

First theory for me is she wants to have kids and doesn't want to be on the road when they're young.

 

I'm sure she can afford to live a very nice life without ever picking up a club.

 

She seems like the Annika type who could still represent corporations, etc. without playing.

[pmcuk]

8 hours ago, Raving Shanker said:

I don't get this. The "week in week out grind" is the definition of professional life. Many of us learn to survive it for longer, one way or another, and maintain enthusiasm for our work. 

 

I was a professional musician until my mid 30s. I burned out and became a performance psychologist which was a smart move, and I had a good career out of it. In that role I saw a few thousand other musicians over 30 years. So I'm all for second careers. 

 

What burned me out was playing gigs below the level I wanted to work at. If I had been more successful I would have stayed in music. I didn't have golfers as clients in my work, but I can well imagine the same happens. When you can't continue at the level you expect to be working at it doesn't take long before you start wanting to pack it in. You don't stop loving the game, but as Berlioz said of music "what a noble art, what a crappy profession". When you're at the top of your game and see results appropriate to that all is sunshine. But it just doesn't last forever. 

[mallrat]

I’m not sure I get all the career comparisons. First if she plays every event including Solheim that’s 35 weeks. Now we know she doesn’t play every event and skips all international travel, so now you are looking at 25-26 weeks a year. In actually looking at her schedule she has played no more than 18 events in a season in the last 5 years. This year she has only played 6 events in 5 months. I have friends who travel way more than that and make way less. I  guess it’s just hard for me to understand when you have people that work jobs way more demanding and can’t even afford to take a week off. 

[Argonne69]

8 hours ago, mallrat said:

I’m not sure I get all the career comparisons. First if she plays every event including Solheim that’s 35 weeks. Now we know she doesn’t play every event and skips all international travel, so now you are looking at 25-26 weeks a year. In actually looking at her schedule she has played no more than 18 events in a season in the last 5 years. This year she has only played 6 events in 5 months. I have friends who travel way more than that and make way less. I  guess it’s just hard for me to understand when you have people that work jobs way more demanding and can’t even afford to take a week off. 

 

Does that include the LET/Aramco events, or the December silly season events? 

 

[Ironman_32]

13 hours ago, mallrat said:

I’m not sure I get all the career comparisons. First if she plays every event including Solheim that’s 35 weeks. Now we know she doesn’t play every event and skips all international travel, so now you are looking at 25-26 weeks a year. In actually looking at her schedule she has played no more than 18 events in a season in the last 5 years. This year she has only played 6 events in 5 months. I have friends who travel way more than that and make way less. I  guess it’s just hard for me to understand when you have people that work jobs way more demanding and can’t even afford to take a week off. 

Yea, I mean, I don't want to say the travel is different, maybe it just got to her after a while. Maybe she looks at what life she wants to live and thinks she has enough for it. Professional golf is a lot of work, not just showing up and playing, so maybe she's done with it? Could be a lot of things she's not saying, she could come out of retirement, who knows?

 

I do think this is the point that makes it difficult for the LPGA on two fronts, (1) players actually retire in their prime somewhat (2) she's played in 18 straight US Opens, could be looked at as a somewhat poor product in a way if an 11 year old can qualify. 

[byoung14]

She probably just wants to retreat away from the spotlight because the golf media has been crapping on her consistently for years now and it’s taken a toll on her mentally.

[golfortennis]

On 5/28/2024 at 1:13 PM, Lobby said:

Lexi's retirement saddens me.   The game owes her a U.S. Open win.

 

How?  Is Patrick Reed owed one?  He cheats and he gets the derision he so rightly deserves, she cheats, everyone tries to sweep it under the rug.  

 

 

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, byoung14 said:

She probably just wants to retreat away from the spotlight because the golf media has been crapping on her consistently for years now and it’s taken a toll on her mentally.

 

Totally disagree. If anything the media has been very gentle. They've pointed out her mistakes and flaws, but have been anything but overly critical. 

 

C'mon, she's been highlighted in numerous "featured group"s over the past few seasons even though her game was less than stellar. 

 

[ChronicSlicer]

2 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Totally disagree. If anything the media has been very gentle. They've pointed out her mistakes and flaws, but have been anything but overly critical. 

 

C'mon, she's been highlighted in numerous "featured group"s over the past few seasons even though her game was less than stellar. 

 

Just an observation, but does the media have a say who gets a featured group spot, or is it the LPGA, who fully knows Lexi brings eyeballs even when playing rather poorly.

[Argonne69]

12 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Just an observation, but does the media have a say who gets a featured group spot, or is it the LPGA, who fully knows Lexi brings eyeballs even when playing rather poorly.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if NBC/GC has some influence in the choices for the featured groups. They want to maximize the eyeballs, so why wouldn't the LPGA help them out? One thing for sure is that the featured groups are certainly not random selections from a hat. 

 

[ChronicSlicer]

32 minutes ago, Argonne69 said:

 

I wouldn't be surprised if NBC/GC has some influence in the choices for the featured groups. They want to maximize the eyeballs, so why wouldn't the LPGA help them out? One thing for sure is that the featured groups are certainly not random selections from a hat. 

 

I'm sure they do have influence, but I guess I think of media more as press conferences and golf analysts, and social media outlets 

[mallrat]

On 5/30/2024 at 5:25 AM, Argonne69 said:

 

Does that include the LET/Aramco events, or the December silly season events? 

 

how many LET/Aramco events does she play? And 1 silly season event?

[Argonne69]

2 hours ago, mallrat said:

how many LET/Aramco events does she play? And 1 silly season event?

 

Enough to add some coinage in her pocket. 

 

Keep in mind that the Aramco event can pay a decent appearance fee. 

 

 

Edited May 31 by Argonne69

[mallrat]

3 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Enough to add some coinage in her pocket. 

 

Keep in mind that the Aramco event can pay a decent appearance fee. 

 

 

She also makes some decent change from that partners event, correct?

[TiScape]

On 5/30/2024 at 12:58 PM, byoung14 said:

She probably just wants to retreat away from the spotlight because the golf media has been crapping on her consistently for years now and it’s taken a toll on her mentally.

Reading this reminded me of a headline I saw. Ya just might be onto something there.

[golfortennis]

36 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Reading this reminded me of a headline I saw. Ya just might be onto something there.

 

So women want to be paid like men, but they don't want to be treated like men.  Got it.  Any man says that and they are pilloried.

 

Look, it sucks, and if she is dealing with comments about things other than her golf, then those people should be ashamed of themselves, if nothing else.  But if these people are commenting on her golf, well, she did sign up to be a professional golfer.  She accepts the money and accolades when she plays well, she also gets the flip side. 

[munichop]

I put Lexi in a group of phenoms that were pushed to play above their level too soon. As  a result she never matured as a player to win at her physical potential similar to Michelle Wie. Lexi never wanted to own her swing, her strategic decisions or even her club selections the way other top players do. I’ve never seen a top golfer as mentally fragile as her except maybe Bubba Watson. 
I always felt she played to please others instead of playing because she loved golf. Now she can pick something to do that she wants without having to worry about money which is an enviable position to have at her age.

[Louis_Posture]

On 5/28/2024 at 8:33 PM, jordan2240 said:

 She really got robbed when she got hit with 4 penalty strokes for an inconsequential infraction a day later that essentially required a microscope to see.  

Seeing that a player moved a ball an inch on the putting green does not require a microscope. She was not "robbed" and actually deserved to have been disqualified from the tournament.

[jordan2240]

1 hour ago, Louis_Posture said:

Seeing that a player moved a ball an inch on the putting green does not require a microscope. She was not "robbed" and actually deserved to have been disqualified from the tournament.

I'm sure this was beaten to death at the time it happened, so I probably shouldn't have mentioned it.  We'll just disagree on whether or not it played out fairly.

[Louis_Posture]

41 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

I'm sure this was beaten to death at the time it happened, so I probably shouldn't have mentioned it.  We'll just disagree on whether or not it played out fairly.

Yes, it was "beaten to death" in the Spring of 2017 , and much of the commentary was disgraceful. For example,  Tiger proclaimed that t.v. viewers should not be empowered to alert Rules Officials to violations. But Tiger should know and respect that the Rules are an integral part of the game and it does not matter how a violation is revealed. At the time Justin Thomas wrote on Twitter "Lexi is so classy, handled that with grace and fight". But Justin was wrong because there is nothing "classy" about cheating.

[TiScape]

First I’ve heard of the Lexi 4 stroke penalty. Went to YouTube and watched the video. Ball clearly set down ~half a ball width closer to the hole. Like it or not, the rules of golf are black and white. So…  🤷🏼‍♂️

[Louis_Posture]

44 minutes ago, TiScape said:

First I’ve heard of the Lexi 4 stroke penalty. Went to YouTube and watched the video. Ball clearly set down ~half a ball width closer to the hole. Like it or not, the rules of golf are black and white. So…  🤷🏼‍♂️

There are several cases of Tour pros cheating including Tiger at TPC, Stewart Cink at Harbour Town, Vijay Singh at the Masters and Presidents Cup, Lexi Thompson at Mission Hills and more. Sadly, the one thing they all have in common is not one of the Tour pros who cheated admits to doing so.

[ChronicSlicer]

11 hours ago, Louis_Posture said:

 But Justin was wrong because there is nothing "classy" about cheating.

I don't personally believe Lexi intended to improve her line or as many of you call it "cheating".

I do believe she still to this very day has a problem with marking her ball from the side, which I think is what caused her to misplace the ball in the first place.

She's not the only who has done this, pay attention and you'll see it here and there.

[TiScape]

26 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

I don't personally believe Lexi intended to improve her line or as many of you call it "cheating".

I do believe she still to this very day has a problem with marking her ball from the side, which I think is what caused her to misplace the ball in the first place.

She's not the only who has done this, pay attention and you'll see it here and there.

So the hand-eye coordination to play golf at the highest level on the planet but just can’t quite master the intricacies of marking a golf ball properly… Hmmm, okay sure. Let’s go w/that! 

 

🤣

[ChronicSlicer]

1 minute ago, TiScape said:

So the hand-eye coordination to play golf at the highest level on the planet but just can’t quite master the intricacies of marking a golf ball properly… Hmmm, okay sure. Let’s go w/that! 

 

🤣

So you seriously think, moving a ball 3/4 of an inch left, right, forward, backward would effect the line, considering she never stood behind the ball to even see the line in the first place.

Watch the video from LPGA on YouTube, it becomes pretty clear exactly how this happened. Watch her right arm and the initial angle of marking the ball. 

[TiScape]

6 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

So you seriously think, moving a ball 3/4 of an inch left, right, forward, backward would effect the line, considering she never stood behind the ball to even see the line in the first place.

Watch the video from LPGA on YouTube, it becomes pretty clear exactly how this happened. Watch her right arm and the initial angle of marking the ball. 

Didn’t say anything about it effecting the line/end result. Just simply the process of marking a ball correctly is really easy if one chooses to do so 🤷🏼‍♂️ If all it would take to correct it is taking the 2 extra seconds to move behind the ball… 

All I’m saying is, I can’t hit the same spot on my club face twice in a round, but can absolutely nail the marking of the ball when I eventually get it on the green!! 😝 

Edited June 2 by TiScape

[ChronicSlicer]

2 minutes ago, TiScape said:

Just simply the process of marking a ball correctly is really easy if one chooses to do so 🤷🏼‍♂️ If all it would take to correct it is taking the 2 extra seconds to move behind the ball… 

 

This is my point, her oddball style of marking the ball caused her to misplace it. Sure you can call it cheating if you want, I call it operator error with no bad intentions, as I mentioned, she still does this side marking even after that debacle.

[AWinfortheAges]

Flasback to Arkansas 2018

 

I recall watching this round and thinking the LPGA was in a great place. Top American, Australian and player from Japan in a final group together. Each young, likeable and with outstanding games. We'd definately see final rounds like this for a minimum of 10 years.

 

Another flashback, the youth movement commercial 

 

[Lobby]

This thread perfectly illustrates why Lexi is retiring