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‘Just a game': Comfort off the course leading to comfort on it for Lexi

NAPLES, Fla. – Lexi Thompson’s journey isn’t all about golf.

Not anymore.

Not even after returning to the CME Group Tour Championship Thursday and resolutely blowing through any bad memories that might linger here.

A year ago, Thompson won the $1 million Race to the CME Globe bonus at Tiburon Golf Club. She also won the Vare Trophy for low scoring average. But she lost a lot here, too.

When she missed a 2-foot putt at tournament’s end, Thompson lost a chance to win the Rolex Player of the Year Award for the first time. She also lost a chance to ascend to world No. 1 for the first time.

After Thompson returned and scorched Tiburon with a 7-under-par 65 Thursday, you could hear how her journey is changing.

“Golf is just a game,” Thompson said while explaining how she has been working through swing changes this fall.


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You could hear her work in therapy in those words. She wasn’t afraid to acknowledge that when asked about the comment.

Golf is just a game?

This is a different Lexi.

“It’s hard to say that, but you have to think that,” Thompson said. “It’s just what I’m doing.”

Thompson bared her soul to reporters in the LPGA event in Indianapolis this summer, explaining how last year’s emotional struggles finally caught up with her, how trying to hide those feelings wore her down. She opened her heart explaining that as a teen phenom her life was all about golf. She explained why she was going to take a month off and skip the Ricoh Women’s British Open as part of “trying to figure myself out.” She talked candidly about building a life about more than golf.

“I’m not a robot,” she said.

A month later, she reminded us of that in the year’s final major. She was in tears leaving the Evian Championship after missing the cut.

She reminded us again last month when she opened up in a long Instagram post about her struggle with her “self image” while growing up. She said she was adversely affected by her lack of “body confidence.” It’s why she became a workout warrior.

“The only way you’ll ever be truly happy, though, is if you love yourself first,” she wrote.

This might seem like a lost year for Thompson, on the golf course. She appeared on the verge of realizing her vast potential last season. She was named the Golf Writers Association of America’s Female Player of the Year after winning twice and finishing runner-up six times. A four-shot Sunday penalty that cost her the ANA Inspiration and that missed 2-foot putt at CME kept her from a spectacular year.

Thompson is winless this year. She hasn’t been the factor she normally is, falling from No. 2 in the world to No. 8 while playing sparsely this fall.

To be clear, Thompson said, she remains serious about developing her potential as a player, but she’s serious about developing her larger life.

She’s just 23.

“I’m doing well,” she said. “It’s definitely a process. I’ve been working on myself a lot, with going to therapists, or just trying to figure myself out, off the golf course, because I’m not just the golfer Lexi. That’s what I want people to know, and not expect so much out of me.

“I’m doing a lot better. Just being home has made a huge difference. Just being around my family and friends makes a tremendous difference.”

Thompson played with her youngest brother, Curtis, on her bag as caddie Thursday. She split with Kevin McAlpine, who endured the ups and downs with her last year.

“We had a lot of success together,” Thompson said. “We made a good team for a few years. I felt like it was just time to take a break. It wasn’t quite working at the time. Just needed a little change.”

Curtis is just helping out Lexi while she seeks a new, full-time caddie. He played the Web.com Tour this past year.

“It’s easy,” Curtis said of caddying for his sister. “It’s like a self-driving car, as long as I give her the right numbers.”

Thompson is one of the best drivers and ball strikers in the women’s game, and she was at her best Thursday. She only missed one fairway and two greens. She made five birdies and an eagle.

Through this season’s struggles, Thompson said she lost her draw as her go-to shot, and she was hitting more of a straight ball, which was creating misses left and right. She wanted to go back to the right-to-left shot she grew up with.

“I just felt a lot more comfortable today,” Thompson said.

It’s something she wants to feel on and off the course.