“Aramco has been a huge supporter of the Ladies European tour”: Lexi Thompson on Saudi Arabia running LIV golf
Lexi Thompson, an LPGA professional golfer, is set to play the 2023 Aramco Team Series. The event starts on May 19th at the Trump International Golf Club, South Florida.
Before the tournament, she made some remarks on the Saudi Arabia-backed event.
At a press conference at Trump International, in a Q&A session, Thompson was asked about her views on Saudi Arabia running this event.
Answering the question, she said,
"Honestly, these events are put on so well and Aramco has been a huge supporter of the Ladies European Tour and golf in general. We're all out there playing a game we love. Having the support from sponsors in Saudi Arabia and Aramco, it's great to be able to play here."
The 2023 Aramco Team Series is the third edition of the tournament, which is a part of the Ladies European Tour (LET). The tournament has a prize pool of $1 million. World No. 2 Lydia Ko, World No. 6 Lexi Thompson, and Jessica Korda will be part of this year's tournament.
"He's a big supporter of women's golf"- Lexi Thompson admires former US President Donald Trump
During the press conference on Wednesday, Lexi Thompson was asked a lot of questions about Donald Trump. She had been a close associate of Trump for the last 10 years.
Thompson was asked how it feels to play golf with Donald Trump.
She answered,
"I've played with Mr. Trump quite a bit being out here 10-plus years. I've seen him out a lot, played a lot of rounds with him. He's a big supporter of women's golf and my family as well. We're forever grateful of that friendship."
Lexi Thompson revealed that Donald Trump is a good golf player and that she is always on his team,
"He drives it straight. Im always on his team. We make a good team. He's a pretty good golfer, not too bad. And he absolutely loves the game. Just a big supporter of golf."
When Thompson was asked about a potential women's LIV Golf tour, she said,
"There has'nt been any talks about it. I'm focusing on the tournaments I can play in this year. Not much we can do about it. We'll continue to play our butts off. There's still enough going on in the golf world and see how far we can take our tour."
Lexi Thompson took a break in 2023. When asked about the same, she replied,
"Honestly, it's about living a life, spending time with friends and family at home. Being able to go to bed and not have a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call and have to get out there to training and to a tee time. Just being able to do what I want."
Later on, she added that playing continuously harms her family time. She required a beak, and she took one.
She added,
"Even though I'm out there practicing, I can come out here for a few hours and then lay by my pool for multiple hours. Or go out. Whatever I want to do. It's very important to have that balance. I'm so family-oriented, time away from my family does more harm than me being out there playing multiple days."
Thompson will be next seen at the 2023 Aramco Team Series with 144 other golfers starting on May 19th.