Wednesday 31 July 2019 14:29, UK
Lexi Thompson has publicly apologised after a mislaid passport resulted in nearly 40 players missing their opening practice rounds ahead of the AIG Women's British Open.
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The world No 3 mistakenly left her passport in her golf bag after missing the cut at the Evian Championship, which was one of a number of sets of clubs in a rental van travelling from France to Woburn for the final women's major of the year.
Thompson only noticed her error when the van was already two hours into the journey and then requested the driver - Seve Ballesteros' former caddie Ian Wright - to stop and wait for her own caddie to get a taxi to meet up with him.
The hold-up saw the van miss the ferry on Sunday evening and delayed the clubs' arrival into the UK, resulting in nearly a third of the field unable to play practice rounds on Monday before their luggage arrived.
"I didn't realise that I was going to cause so much delay in the bags for all the players, and I'm very sorry about that," Thompson said. "But in my situation I was freaking out.
"Then he [the van driver] happened to be somewhat close to where my caddie Benji was, so my first reaction was to hopefully stop him and get my passport so I can leave and get to the Women's British Open.
"I do apologise. I mean, I would be upset too if I was the other players, but I ended up getting it, and I can't apologise enough.
"I'm just really trying to focus on this week and play good golf and just focus on enjoying this experience and being at a major."
Thompson plays alongside Anne Van Dam and Nasa Hataoka for the first two rounds, with the American looking to build on a year that has seen her post two top-three finishes in majors and register an 11th PGA Tour title.
"I've been fortunate enough I've been playing pretty well," Thompson added. "I've had a good past few years, and especially this year I've had a lot of good finishes and a win.
"It's gotten me to that ranking but that's something I just really don't focus on. I just try to go out and just play my best."
Watch the AIG Women's British Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage begins on Thursday from 11am on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Mix.
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