The fourth women’s Major of the year, the Amundi Evian Championship, begins in France this week. Not surprisingly given its status, it also features a world-class field featuring every player in the world’s top 20 – except one.
For the third year in succession, American Lexi Thompson is set to miss the tournament.
Thompson, who currently ranks 18th in the world, has suffered indifferent form in a disjointed 2023 so far. The 28-year-old’s season got off to an encouraging enough start with a tie for third at the Saudi Ladies International, but that is as good as she’s had it so far, with five missed cuts in the eight tournaments that have followed.
The 2014 Chevron Championship winner admitted earlier in the year that she had also chosen to take some time away from the game. Before April’s Chevron Championship, she explained her decision saying: “You know, just enjoying my life a bit more off the golf course. I’ve taken the offseason, gotten to spend a lot of time with my family and friends, and I gave myself an extra month basically.”
However, there was also the sign of an injury as she arrived at Carlton Woods for the tournament, as she sported a taped left wrist which she put down to overworking practice.
Thompson returned to action in May’s Cognizant Founders Cup, where she finished T31, but her four appearances since have failed to impress. While she briefly shone to finish T21 in May’s Aramco Team Series Florida, three more missed cuts have followed along with a subdued T47 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
As to why Thompson appears set to miss her third successive Amundi Evian Championship, there could be a clue in her comments after missing the cut in her most recent appearance at Evian Resort Golf Club in 2019 (there wasn’t a tournament in 2020 due to Covid-19), which suggested she’s not a fan of the course.
She wrote on Instagram: “To play well today hit one bad golf shot but hit 3 iron shots right at the pin 5 ft at one point then end up 40+ ft….umm really? I’m actually very thankful that I don’t have to put myself thru that for another two days. You’re a beautiful place Evian but that’s just too many bad…
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