Thompson Q&A: Solheim Cup lessons from 2013

At age 12, Lexi Thompson qualified to play in the U.S. Women's Open. That experience planted her desire and determination to one day play on the LPGA Tour and compete among the best. Over the next few years with her dad by her side, as well as two competitive older brothers, she sharpened her skills and increased the length of her golf shots.

In 2008, Thompson got the biggest win of her young career at the U.S. Girls' Junior. She improved so much that she was able to turn professional at 15. She bee-lined to the LPGA Tour and has won five times, including her first major championship at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Next week, Thompson will be part of her second U.S. Solheim Cup team and will be heading to Germany. The Americans came up short of victory in the most recent edition of the biennial matches, in 2013, for the second straight time. Thompson, who automatically qualified for the team and owns a 1-2-0 career record in the Solheim Cup, said she believes the strong unity of their squad is what will bring home the cup for the United States.

ESPN.com: Give us an inside scoop on making the Solheim Cup team. What has been the first thing that has happened so far?

Thompson: There really hasn't been too much that has happened so far, just team talks, or group gatherings. We have a great team, and to have Juli Inkster as our captain, it's a huge honor. She's been one of my role models. To have her as my Solheim Cup captain is unbelievable. We have a great team heading to Germany, so hopefully we'll get that cup back.

What do you think the difference will be going overseas this year compared to being home in 2013?

It definitely will be different. I don't think there will be as many USA chants going on. I think we will get a pretty good crowd over there. I've been to Germany once before for the German Open and they love their golf over there. I think it will be a fair crowd, but we are going to have to play our best, and bring our A-game. We are there to win, but to come together as a team is what we want to do.

What was it like looking back on 2013?

It was an amazing experience; probably the most nervous I've ever been on the few shots besides my U.S. Women's Open at age 12. In 2013, when I teed off, I didn't have the crowd settled down, I just had them cheer while I was hitting. It was so much excitement and adrenaline running through me. It was a mess. Going up to every green, hearing 'USA' chants, and having people cheer you on. Words can't even really describe it. I know we didn't end up winning, but it was an amazing experience, and we all learned from it and what we needed to work on from it.

Can you give us any stories that you remember from the team room, or after the matches?

I know we had some inside jokes, but I think a few of us were pretty nervous on the first tee and had a few issues walking through the second shot on No. 1. ... Besides that, I don't know.

What would you guys do at night?

We would all just get together in our team room, and have dinner and play ping pong. They had a basketball thing set up for us. Basically, just all hang out and joke around, and be relaxed. It's a very stressful situation out on the golf course with the amount of pressure of playing for your country. So we would all get together and recap on the day, what we did good and what we needed to improve on. It was a lot of fun.

If you were captain of the Solheim Cup team, what would be a couple things you would make sure to do?

I really think the whole thing with team events is about matching each other's games up correctly, but it's also personalities. Golf is such an individual sport, you have to make sure that your players have similar personalities, and that they get along, and they will do whatever it takes for the other player to play better, or be positive even when they are struggling. To keep them pumped up during the whole day. I think it's all about teaming up the right players, and getting along with each other. I think the team that we have is amazing with that.

How would you assess the season so far heading into the last major of 2015, this week's Evian Championship?

I think it's been a very successful year for me. Coming into the year, what I wanted was to be on the Solheim Cup team, which is coming up. Overall, just playing more consistently. I had a little bit of a rough start in the beginning where I wasn't playing that well. I just tried to stay confident with it, and work on my game a lot, work out a lot, and tried to stay positive. It came around with patience and I started getting a few top-10s, and then I got the win at Meijer LPGA Classic, which is a huge confidence booster. It's been a great year. Overall, I'm very happy about it.

You had a fantastic week recently at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic, finishing tied for fourth. How would you recap the weekend and being in contention like that?

It's always a great feeling being in contention, knowing you have a chance of winning. That's obviously my No. 1 goal going into the week, to win the tournament, but I'm just trying to do my best. Coming down the stretch knowing you have a chance is always what an athlete wants. To have the nerves, to have the excitement, to pull the shots off under pressure, there is no better feeling.

Looking back on those shots, and being in the moment with your caddie, what do you remember about that?

Last week, I hit a lot of good shots during the whole week. I left a few putts out there, but overall I hit a lot of good putts, too. I just had a few misreads that were a little off, but I pulled off a lot of good shots that gave me the opportunities. I came up a few short from Kris Tamulis, but it's hard to beat when someone goes out and shoots a 65 on the last day.

With your extensive travel, what are the keys for you to maintain a high level of play for yourself, and to stay consistent week after week?

I think it's very important to work out while you're on the road, staying physically fit. Making sure that you are ready for long days, because there can be extremely long days on the golf course, whether it's dealing with really hot weather, or bad conditions, or with rain delays. You just have to be ready for super long days.

Also, working on the mental side of the game, being mentally prepared for any situation out on the golf course. Trying to stay confident, even if you are struggling. Overall, just having a positive mindset. There is the working on your game. You have to keep on practicing, and keep improving on your game and staying consistent with it.

How do you work on your mental game to stay positive?

I've been working with John Denny, down in South Florida, and we have been focusing a lot on breathing exercises. I'm focusing on making sure I'm ready for each shot, and doing my pre-shot routine and visualizing the shot I want to hit and fully committing.

Golf Digest featured you on the cover of their fitness and power Issue. You were bare-chested, with a white jacket draped around your neck. What kind of reaction did you get from people and fans, as well as peers?

I got a lot of positive feedback from it. I loved doing the shoot. It was a huge honor for me to be on the Golf Digest fitness issue. And to work with Walter Iooss Jr., it was huge opportunity for me. Not only to represent women in golf, but women in general. Just to represent that strength is a lot of beauty now. We did a lot of different looks. We did a lot of work out tank tops, and gym shorts or yoga pants, and I just felt like that shot showed the strongest and that was the most appealing.

You have two brothers that play high-level golf; Nicholas Thompson on the PGA Tour and Curtis Thompson on the Web.com Tour. What was it like growing up in that family, and how did you all become such strong players?

I started golfing when I was 5, and I lived on a golf course. But right when I started, they were already into golf. They had already started a few years ago, so growing up and getting to watch them play, and being able to learn from them and following their footsteps, basically, it was great for me. I always played other sports too, but I loved golf. I grew up around it. To have two older brothers to be able to mentor me and help me out whether it was with golf or life in general, it was amazing. They made me a lot stronger of a person, and a strong competitor on the golf course.

What are your keys to putting?

Practicing, for me, I try to make it as productive as I can. Whether it's putting drills, just to give me confidence to see the ball go in the hole, and making sure I'm putting a good solid stroke on it every time. And then lag putting, making sure I do my routine on every putt and focusing on my speed. When I'm on the golf course, I have a pretty set routine with my putting; reading the putt from the other side of the hole, the low side and behind my ball. Then, I like to visualize my line going into the hole, and how I want my putt to roll in. Basically, once I get lined up where I want to, I just say to myself that I'm going to hit a good putt here, and put as good of a stroke as I can on it.

How about for pitching and chipping?

Pitching, I do a lot of yardage practice. I'll go out to the range, or just practice playing. I'll go out to certain yardages and hit a few pitch shots from there. If I get on the range, I'll take a few cones out and put it at 30 yards, 40 yards, and just keep going up to 70 or 80 yards. I'll just practice at landing the ball at each cone. Chipping, I basically dump out a bunch of golf balls around the chipping green, and practice different chip shots, and get a feel for different shots around the green. And for pitching, I usually have a certain length golf swing for each yardage. And I choke up a little bit more on my pitching and chipping just to get a better feel for it. That's probably been the biggest help for me.