INCHEON, South Korea – They have become the dynamic duo in women’s team golf.
Lexi Thompson and Cristie Kerr are the powerhouse pairing in international team competition today, a nearly unbeatable combination that helped the Americans win the Solheim Cup last year and the UL International Crown the year before that.
They’re 8-1-2 as partners in Solheim Cup and Crown matches.
But a question looms over their pairing this week.
Is Thompson emotionally and mentally ready to play this week?
“A big wild card for the Americans is Lexi, her state of mind,” Golf Channel’s Jerry Foltz said. “Does she want to be here? I think the world of Lexi, but it’s been a troubling year.”
Thompson is the highest ranked American woman in the world at No. 5. She won the Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year Award last year and the LPGA’s Vare Trophy for low scoring average, but she arrives in South Korea searching for more than her best game.
Since skipping the Ricoh Women’s British Open this summer to take a month-long “mental break,” and then later opening up about her struggles as a teen phenom whose life was built too much around golf, she hasn’t been the same player.
Thompson, 23, was in tears two weeks ago as she left the Evian Championship, where she missed the cut. It was her second missed cut in her last three starts.
She was asked about how comfortable she is since returning from her break.
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“It’s a work in progress,” Thompson said. “It’s not something you can just change overnight. It’s something that I’m working on. But the breaks are what I need, to feel like I have a normal life, and be a regular 23-year-old girl. I needed that break from just golf in general and just to get my mind right.
“It’s definitely getting there. I feel ready on the golf course. My game is there. Been putting in the work. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Foltz has followed Thompson as closely as anyone within the game, calling so many of her shots as an on-course reporter. He watched how she was affected by competitive setbacks, and then personal heartaches dealing with her mother’s second battle with cancer and her grandmother’s death.
“But I also see a hell of a lot of fight in Lexi,” Foltz said. “When Cristie brings that out in her, it’s pretty cool.”
And that’s why Foltz can’t wait to see what another pairing with Kerr might do for Thompson. Kerr, 40, is a tough-minded veteran destined to captain the American Solheim Cup team someday. The 20-time LPGA winner has been through her own highs and lows coming up as a teen phenom.
“I think the key with Lexi and I is that we aren’t afraid to kick each other in the butt,” Kerr said. “If she is hanging her head, I’m not afraid to tell her to pick it up. And if I start getting that way, she’s not afraid to tell me.
“That’s part of a great partnership. You’ve got to be able to say things to each other.”
Kerr loves pairing with Thompson, and she’s protective of her partner.
“Lexi is incredibly talented and athletic,” Kerr said. “When people were on her for missing the cut at Evian, I was on social media telling everyone to give her a break. I missed the cut and nobody said anything.
“She has had a lot of hard stuff happen to her. It takes a toll a little bit, but I like Lexi and I like playing with Lexi. She’s more than a great player. I think she’s a great role model, too.”
Karen Stupples, the Women’s British Open champ and Golf Channel analyst, believes Kerr and Thompson elevate each other’s confidence.
“Cristie provides good, serious mental strength for Lexi, that allows Lexi to play her best,” Stupples said. “Cristie’s good for Lexi.
“And in Lexi, Cristie gets a player who can beat anyone when she’s at her best. She gets a player who has the potential to be world No. 1. They are very formidable together.”
Kay Cockerill, who has followed both Kerr and Thompson a lot as a Golf Channel on-course reporter, sees a special dynamic in the pairing that might help Thompson the rest of the year.
“Cristie’s intensity level is hard to match,” Cockerill said. “She brings it to the course every single day. I think her intensity rubs off on her partner.”
Kerr, who won three times worldwide last season, hasn’t played as well as she would like this year, but she says these team events are as much about attitude as form.
“My attitude is that it doesn’t matter how I’m playing going into these things,” Kerr said. “I’m going to give it my absolute all no matter how much it may exhaust me.”
Success in team events can give players a bounce in the weeks after. Thompson and Kerr are looking to do that again for each other.
