Older And Bolder, Lexi Thompson Is As Intriguing As Ever

The first image we have of Alexis Thompson is the one that endures. The bow securing her braided pony. The carefree smile of a typical 12-year-old in the unlikely position of U.S. Women’s Open competitor.

In many ways, she is not unlike the youngest kid at a perpetual family reunion.

“Oh yeah, it’s ‘I remember you when you were this tall,’ ” she says with a laugh. “Or they’ll talk about these sparkly visors I used to wear. I know some people still think of me as a 12-year-old.”

She’s 20 now, long since known as Lexi. And on top of her stack of youngest-ever records, Thompson added the biggie last year at age 19 with her first major, a title she will defend this week in Rancho Mirage, California, at the newly named ANA Inspiration.

But it is how far she has come since last March and where she is now, seemingly on the cusp of that coveted crossover from burgeoning LPGA star to mainstream endorser and celebrity, that both entices and confounds her.

As Thompson continues to assert her independence within the tight-knit and protective cocoon of family and advisers and make more of the decisions affecting her future, it is that delicate balancing act between being everyone’s kid sister and being an adult, those close to her say, that may be the biggest challenge of all.

Stardom has always beckoned
It was in place all along, this plan for stardom. Driven not by a marketing strategy as much as by a precocious little girl who could hit a golf ball a mile by age 6, it became obvious early on that something very special was in the making.