CAESARES, SPAIN – Lexi Thompson had let a point slip through hers and the United States' hands late on Friday at Finca Cortesin.
Faced with a dodgy greenside lie on the par-5 18th, Thompson borderline shanked her short-sided chip for her third shot. From where she hit her fourth shot, another pitch, was triple the length away from the hole and double the depth beneath the elevated putting surface. She nearly holed the second attempt.
Between her inability to get up-and-down, and her partner, Lilia Vu, proving unable to make a 30-foot birdie putt, the US had conceded a point they had worked so hard to save.
Naturally, what happened on Thompson's first chip was the biggest question about the match. Perhaps it was the only question that mattered.
So it was shocking when Thompson responded the way she did when rightfully asked about it after the match and a long Day 1 in Spain.
"I don't need to comment on that," she said.
The journalist correctly responded in kind: "Excuse me?"
"I don't need to comment on the chip," she replied. "It was a bad lie, and I didn't hit a good chip, but it was pretty much impossible, so…"
Thompson doesn't have to answer any question, of course. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be asked. Captain Stacy Lewis was heard on a live mic calling it a "horrible question." Take umbrage with the wording, but it's better to hear from the athlete about their experience than to simply guess and fill any void of doubt with third-party interpretation.
The reality is Thompson's career has been defined by short-game woes. She has found herself so many times at the doorstep of glory and has often been unable to cross the threshold. That's not an indictment of her, but it means the great unanswered question of her career is simple. Why not?
Thompson has occasionally slunk away when coming so close yet coming up short. At the US Women's Open at Olympic Club. At the KPMG Women's PGA at Congressional. The trade for glory and praise of your talents is earnest questions about your failures. It's her choice how she responds, and that may well be seen as a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. That doesn't mean the reputational outcome is equal.
This has been one of Thompson's poorest seasons on the LPGA, but her accomplished career and strong-enough 2022 got her here. Captain Stacy Lewis gave Thompson a tremendous vote of confidence when she sent Thompson out in Match 1 on Friday. She secured a point. She did again on Saturday morning in a high-pressure alternate-shot format. She has been a substantial piece of the Americans' two-point lead at the halfway mark of the three-day competition. That won't be lost on observers, but the bluster in responding to an honest question about a blip in time may sour the holistic view of her contribution to Team USA.
