Lexi Thompson’s Bizarre Passport Incident Cost 40 Players Their Business Day in 2019

With a packed schedule and back-to-back events, athletes often have to keep on their toes. They spend a week together living out of a suitcase and are always on the go. This, more often than not, creates a rush and results in mistakes. Lexi Thompson once made one such mistake that cost not only her but the entire field as well.

Lexi forgot her passport, and the decision she made resulted in nearly 40 players missing the practice rounds.

Lexi’s plan to get back her passport

Back in 2019, the LPGA star had just finished the Evian Championship in France and was headed over to Woburn for the British Open. That’s where the trouble began. Thompson realized she had left her passport in her kit bag, which was in a van with the golf bags of the other 40 participants and on its way to the UK. “I was freaking out,” she said.

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Thompson then devised a plan. She got the driver to stop on the way and arranged for her caddie to meet up with him and retrieve her passport. Although her plan was successful and she got her passport back, the aftermath of her actions was catastrophic.

The delay due to the stop caused the driver to miss his ferry to England. This resulted in the clubs reaching the course only on Monday afternoon. And by then the course was already shut down for maintenance, leaving the women with a wasted business day, i.e. practice time, on the course before they began that week.

Lexi Thompson apologizes profusely for her slipup

The 2014 ANA Inspiration Award winner was more than apologetic; she had never considered there would be such drastic consequences for her actions. She said, “I didn’t realise that I was going to cause so much delay with the bags for all the players and I’m very sorry about that.”

Thompson explained her situation, saying that “my first reaction was to hopefully stop him and get my passport so I could leave.” But Lexi understood how important that round of practice they all missed was, and she claimed to understand if the players were upset about it too. She stated, “I do apologise, I would be upset if I was the other players.”

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Lexi ended the Open tied for 16th. She certainly hoped to do better, especially after all she went through to be there. But there was no turning back. Would you have done the same thing in Lexi’s place? Let us know in the comments below.