“Wow! … Good for her” - Suzy Waley reacts on Lexi Thompson’s exception to play in the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open 

Suzy Waley recently spoke about Lexi Thompson becoming the seventh woman to get an entry to a PGA Tour event. The 28-year-old golfer earned a sponsor's invite to the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open, which takes place next week in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Waley was the first woman ever to earn an invite to play a tournament on the PGA Tour since Babe Zaharias in 1945. She qualified for the 2003 Greater Hartford Open and missed the cut after the first two rounds. Interestingly, she was also the first-ever female president of the PGA of America.

While speaking to Golfweek, she was asked about how she reacted after knowing about Lexi Thompson getting an exemption into the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open. Waley replied by saying:

"I was up scrolling, as most of us do when we first wake up, or at least as I do, and I saw it right away and I sent it off to my husband my kids, and I was like, 'Wow! … Good for her for saying yes.'"

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"She has been through media scrutiny" - Suzy Waley has no advice for Lexi Thompson on 'navigating criticism'

After qualifying for the 2003 Greater Hartford Open, Waley had to go through multiple buildups, some were good and some really bad. After missing the cut by 13 strokes, she was heavily criticized for her performance.

However, she dealt with them and eventually rose through the ranks to become the first female officer in the PGA of America and later on held the position of president too.

When asked about what advice she would give to Lexi Thompson, who might get heavily criticized herself on X or other social media platforms, Suzy Waley said:

"I don't want to ever speak for Lexi, but she has been through media scrutiny. It's not going to be a surprise for her. "

Waley added that the only difference was that she did not have to face that criticism on social media back then, but she did live it through when it was all over the U.S. Postal Service.

"I think any of us who played, and I'll speak for myself, we know the pros and cons – we lived through it. I just didn't have to live through it with social media. I lived through it with the U.S. Postal Service," Waley said.

The 56-year-old also revealed that she received numerous letters on her address. Waley also added that there were a number of letters that encouraged her and praised her hard work.

"I got some incredible letters from women internationally who didn’t even play sports who were in support of taking opportunities, being brave, showcasing to my daughters that no matter the environment that you hold your head high with hard work, an enormous amount of work," Waley said.

Suzy Waley shared that there were a few letters that were equivalent to the trolls people get on social media. She added that they went to the extent of stopping her from coming out of her comfort zone. But she pulled through it and held onto her family and friends and got better.