With newly crowned LPGA Classic champ Lexi Thompson opting to skip the second stage of LPGA qualifying school next week, it would seem to be a mere formality before commissioner Mike Whan welcomes the power-hitting teenager to the tour.
“Lexi is not going to Q-school next week,” Thompson’s manager Bobby Kreusler told us in a phone interview on Tuesday. “I’ve just made the decision, after speaking with Lexi and her family. It is our belief we will be able to reach a mutually acceptable conclusion [with Whan about tour membership].”
Kreusler, who is accompanying the popular 16-year-old golfer as she makes the rounds this week of TV talk shows in New York, contended he did not know what that conclusion would be. It would seem safe to assume, however, that Thompson will announce sometime next week that she will become a card-carrying member of the 2012 LPGA Tour.
Whan allowed the teen to play in the qualifying tourney with the understanding that she could earn tour membership if she successfully completed the three stages of classes. Thompson, who led the 2010 U.S. Curtis Cup to victory at Massachusetts’ Essex County Club, clobbered her opposition in the first leg in July.
With so few events left on the 2011 schedule, and LPGA rules dictating that she would be a rookie were she to join the club this year, Thompson would likely wait until next year to enlist. That way, assuming she has the numbers, Thompson would be eligible for Rookie of the Year honors in 2012.
In the meantime, Kreusler will file a petition for membership “in the next week or so” and stressed that Lexi did not want to be a distraction from this week’s Solheim Cup.
“There is no rush. I don’t have to do it yesterday or today,” Kreusler said. “We are very aware that this is a big week for women’s golf, with the Solheim Cup….I want Lexi to enjoy her victory and the LPGA folks to focus on the Solheim Cup.”
Kreusler noted that he and Whan had a “good conversation” on Sunday night and that they would “pick up discussions after Mike gets back from the Solheim Cup.”
In the meantime, Kreusler was having running talks with the LPGA’s director of tournament regulations Heather Daly-Donofrio and would “definitely continue to have those conversations.”
As for Lexi fans wondering why Whan does not just waive the mandate that LPGA Tour members must be at least 18, Kreusler said rules forbade him from doing so. Indeed, Whan must first receive a petition from Thompson asking him to overrule the age requirement.
“An administrative step is required for me to file a petition,” said Kreusler, who added he was unaware of the #LetLexiPlay Twitter campaign started by Thompson’s sponsor, Puma Golf, pushing for Whan to grant Thompson membership.
“Mike is a very smart, a very capable man,” Kreusler said. “I think he’s doing a fantastic job and in fairness to him, this week is about the Solheim Cup, not about Lexi Thompson.
“We are not the ones jumping up and down saying we want an answer,” Kreusler said. “We don’t need an answer this week.”
Thompson, by the way, has been a guest on CNN and CBS and will appear on NBC’s Today Show on Wednesday.
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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- Lexi Thompson passes first test at LPGA Q-school
- Still not a tour member, Lexi Thompson notches historic LPGA win
