Renewed Lexi Thompson needs another big week at The Annika to qualify for LPGA season-ender

BELLEAIR, Fla. — Two weeks before the Solheim Cup, U.S. captain Stacy Lewis told Lexi Thompson at the LPGA stop in Cincinnati that she wasn’t going to play her in alternate shot. Thompson could’ve gotten mad, Lewis said, but instead used it as motivation.

When Thompson arrived in Spain, Lewis saw a different player. Armed with a new swing thought from instructor Tony Ruggiero, whom she started working with the month prior, Thompson’s ball-striking returned to form. Players kept coming up to Lewis to tell her that Lexi was back. And the advanced strokes-gained numbers that Lewis received were “off the charts.”

With only a handful of holes left in a Thursday practice round, Lewis asked Thompson and Megan Khang if they could play alternate shot together on Friday, something that hadn’t previously been discussed.

Later that night, Lewis told the team that Thompson was going to hit the first tee shot.

“I can’t tell you the words that were said,” said Lewis, “but everybody was fired up and ready to go.”

Suddenly Thompson, a 28-year-old player who had missed more cuts than she’d made this season, was the leading player on Team USA, and she delivered, with a 3-1-0 record.

While Thompson is reluctant to share what she and Ruggiero work on exactly, the 11-time winner did credit his arrival on the scene with turning her season around.

“He texts me every day,” said Thompson, “asking how I’m doing, keeping in touch. That’s all I need. I just need somebody there to support me and really just there checking in on me. Even if I’m playing good every day, it’s still somebody asking.”

This week, Thompson tees it up in the newly renamed Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, where she’s been runner-up to Nelly Korda the past two seasons. It’s her first start since that inspired run at making the cut on the PGA Tour.

Thompson said Pelican Golf Club, an exclusive club in Belleair, Florida, is in the best shape she’s ever seen it. She appreciates that she can play aggressively here and hit driver more than most tour shops. Her familiarity with Bermudagrass helps massively.

Ruggiero has worked with a number of male touring pros over the years. Former students include Lucas Glover and Robby Shelton. Thompson appreciates his straightforward approach.

“Tony will tell you how it is and that’s great for me,” she said. “That’s how I respond. We laugh together and it’s not super uptight.”

Lewis poured over statistics throughout the 2023 season and notes that Thompson’s putting has been strong all season but her ball-striking, particularly her driver is what’s held her back. That’s the opposite of Thompson’s traditional game.

Now, with her long game turned around, Thompson is once again playing with confidence, lifted not only by the Solheim Cup, but that second-round 69 last month at the Shriners Children’s Open.

Thompson averaged 301 yards off the tee over two rounds in Las Vegas and tied for 13th in driving accuracy against the men, hitting 20 of 28 fairways.

“You could see it coming,” said Lewis.

“I hope she can learn from that moment and stay aggressive with driver, even on some of those shorter golf courses.”

Over the last two years at Pelican, Thompson has one-putted 46 percent of the greens at this event and led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. She gained 1.76 strokes per round on the greens in 2021 and 2022 combined.

This week, however, she’s playing for something more than a title.

Thompson currently ranks 88th on the CME points list. The top 60 and ties at the end of this week qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where Thompson is a past champion.

Bianca Pagdanganan currently ranks 60th on the points list at 528.780. Thompson is 223.88 points behind her. A third-place finish is worth 230 points and a second is worth 320.

Thompson’s trying not to think about it.

“If I focus on that,” she said, “it will just get me off track this week.”