‘Hurtful’ trolls drive Lexi Thompson off social media

Lexi Thompson has revealed she is taking a break from social media after being left hurt and distressed by negative comments aimed at her on the platforms.

The 24-year-old, who has 400,000 Instagram followers, came under heavy criticism in some quarters for playing golf with US president Donald Trump and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh last weekend.

That appears to have convinced her that the time is right to step away, at least temporarily, from social media.

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In an Instagram post, the ten-time LPGA winner wrote: “Hey everybody, just want to say I will be taking a break from social media. If I post it will be from my management team for me. I’m too involved with it, and to read some of the hurtful things being said to me lately isn’t fair and I’m not dealing with it. Thank you to my true fans out there I will be back on but I’m going to be focusing on me right now and my life. Thanks for understanding.”

Thompson has endured a difficult few years on and off the course.

In March 2017, Thompson found herself at the centre of a rules scandal that cost her victory in the opening major of the season, the ANA Inspiration. At the opposite end of the season, she missed a short putt to win the CME Group Tour Championship that would have seen her climb to world No.1 for the first time.

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Off the course, meantime, in was revealed in June 2017 that her mother, Judy, had been diagnosed with uterine cancer, for which she has been undergoing treatment.  

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She briefly stepped away from golf last year, missing the 2018 RICOH Women’s British Open to “recharge my mental batteries”, as she put it, before, in November, she split with her Scottish caddie Kevin McAlpine.