LPGA star Lexi Thompson reflects on stepping away from full-time golf at young age

Almost one full year ago -time LPGA winner Lexi Thompson years old at the time declared that she was no longer going to be a full-time golfer At the time Thompson cited her mental soundness as one of the factors that contributed to her decision A lot of people don't realize what we go through as a professional athlete I'll be the last one to say throw me a pity party That's the last thing I want But we're doing what we love We're trying the best every single day and we're not perfect We're human words hurt and it's hard to overcome sometimes she declared at the time Now almost whole months out of that decision it appears that Thompson has no regrets CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM It s been very relaxing A lot more time for myself my family friends just now engaged it s nice to be able to have a life balance now I ve been a professional since I was but in the golf world since I was seven I m excited to just be able to explore other things that life has to offer Thompson declared in a new interview with Fox News Digital I am peaceful with my decision I still plan on playing here and there but more sporadically and more on my time I m just trying to find my love for the contest again It s something that s been a part of my life since I was little I ve invariably loved the competitive side of it and was invariably driven to be perfect at golf but you can never be perfect at golf So it s an ongoing learning challenge Sometimes that can be very tough But yeah it s been a good decision for me Mentally I m more at peace and that way when I do tee it up it s events I look forward to and that I feel like my contest is ready PHIL MICKELSON RIPS 'TRAITOR' CHUCK SCHUMER OVER SAVE ACT CRITICISMS 'HE IS NOT REPRESENTING AMERICA'Before Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang came along there was Thompson - a young prodigy who took the golf world by qualifying for the Women's U S Open at age Thompson has one major to her name a number golf experts maybe predicted would be higher at this point With women's sports gaining more and more popularity perhaps chosen may have felt Thompson's job was to grow the meeting However self comes first declared Thompson I think there s dependably the outside pressures and expectations from the world and just people in the golfing industry But I think what's the majority major you just have to focus on yourself and why I got involved in the meeting in the first place and my dreams and everything So can't really let anybody else's expectations of you get in the way of that So of discipline there's outside noise but you just kind of have to ignore it Thompson is still developing in the golf society and she is helping grow the sport by giving everyday golfers a chance to win a -night cruise Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter