Grace and Style Under Pressure

         I watched a young female golfer on Sunday, named Lexie Thompson. She showed the world what grace under pressure and resilience of spirit are all about. The young professional golfer was leading the final round of the ANA tournament, at Mission Hills Golf Course in California.

         An anonymous couch potato had importuned rules officials that Lexie had improperly replaced her ball on a green during the previous round. It is something that every golfer on the planet does inadvertently on any number of occasions. Surprisingly, the wooden-headed officials, with saw dust for brains, listened to the complainer. They reviewed the tape of the previous round and decided to assess the young Thompson a two-stroke penalty. Then, to add insult to injury, they added another two-stroke penalty for signing her score card. This, even though Lexie was then at the time unaware of the supposed infraction. I suppose they could have milked the televised drama of the situation a bit more, had they used the mad hatter and the Queen of Hearts as messengers of the infraction.

          One of the announcers seemed to chortle anxiously when he advised viewers that wooden headed officials would approach the young Phenom after the twelfth hole. They would tell her that not only was she no longer in the lead, she was now three strokes off the pace. I got the distinct impression that several of these clowns expected Lexie to dissolve into tears and collapse. They didn’t know with whom they were dealing.

         After a stunned expression crossed Lexie’s face and even a few drops of moisture were forced from her lachrymal ducts, by nervous tension, this beautiful young woman, reached into her bag and put on a performance over the next six holes that had throngs of fans along the fairways chanting “Lexie,” “Lexie.” These people know what grace under pressure is. They also know when a player is being treated unfairly by wooden headed officials.

        The resilience of spirit and steely determination exhibited by the young golfer were impressive by any standards. She managed to make up the strokes and force a playoff. The story would read much better if she won, but alas, she lost by a stroke to another fierce competitior. This woman empathesized with Lexie, but like all competitors played to win. I now wonder what a magnificent gesture it would have been had the winner, simply missed her final put on purpose as a display of solidarity with an unfairly treated colleague. But, I guess those types of grand gestures only happen in the movies.

       What we did see on Sunday was an uncommonly gracious young athlete, who weathered stunning adversity, overcame it and showed millions of admirers the steely determination that drives her. And whether or not she ever wins another golf tournament, Lexie Thompson now has new legions of admirers who appreciate her for her grit, determination and grace. Rock on, Lexie.

                                             -30-

                                    (492 words)

                                  Joseph Xavier Martin