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Lexi Thompson has announced that she is taking a break from professional golf to “recharge my mental batteries”.
The 23-year-old took to Instagram to announce that, as a consequence, she will miss next week’s RICOH Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
“It is extremely difficult for me not to play in this prestigious major but I realised recently that I need to take to take some time to work on myself,” wrote Thompson. “The events of the past year and a half (on and off the golf course) have taken a tremendous toll on me both mentally and emotionally. I have not truly felt like myself for quite some time.
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“I am therefore taking this time to recharge my mental batteries and to focus on myself away from the game of professional golf.”
Thompson added that she hopes to defend her Indy Women in Tech Championship title in Indianapolis later in August.
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 last year that Thompson’s mother, Judy, had been diagnosed with uterine cancer, for which she has been undergoing treatment.
Thompson turned professional in June 2010 at the age of 15. Three years earlier, she became the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the US Women’s Open. In September 2011, she became the then youngest player ever to win an LPGA tournament.
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