Latest news with #Thompson
NBC Sports
11 hours ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Lexi Thompson defends pace of play, playing schedule after USWO missed cut
Lexi Thompson wants to set a couple things straight. After missing the cut at the U.S. Women's Open, Thompson took to social media on Sunday morning to defend her pace of play and maintain that she's not, in fact, retired. Multiple photos and video clips showed Charley Hull, who was grouped with Thompson and Nelly Korda for the first 36 holes, seemingly frustrated with the slow pace. In one image, Hull was sitting on the ninth tee box at Erin Hills before Thompson finished up her eighth hole. Hull was also filmed sighing as Thompson took a while to stroke her putt on the opening hole. 'In reality, my game wasn't ready for the week, even though I put a lot of hard work into it, but that wasn't going to stop me from fighting through the week,' Thompson wrote. 'I also want to add on this, because pace of place was a huge talk this week. Want people to realize our group basically waited on every single hole on the group in front. We were never out of position, warned, or [put] on clock. I'll be the first one to say I'm not as fast as my playing partners the two days, but I'm also the last person that wants to be out there for six hours. So, before you make assumptions, make sure you get all the facts right before basing it on pictures and little clips. That's all!' Thompson then transitioned to the subject of her retirement, or non-retirement. It was at last summer's U.S. Women's Open where Thompson announced she was stepping away from full-time golf. The announcement was made via a long video montage while the LPGA put out a release that read, 'Lexi Thompson announces retirement from LPGA Tour.' For the rest of the season, Thompson was showered with thank-you messages from tournaments and fans. When she ended her year at the CME Group Tour Championship, she tearfully said, 'It was very emotional. Really wasn't until I got to No. 9 for some reason. Kind of all hit me. Yeah, it's just always a special week regardless if it was my last tournament as a full-time schedule or not.' This week's U.S. Women's Open was Thompson's fifth start of the year. Last year, she made her seventh start of the season at the championship. 'I'm not sure how many times I'll have to repeat this, but I never used the word retire,' Thompson wrote. 'I said not a full-time schedule, because I'm not sure how much I will play. Just taking it one at a time. That's why I'm still playing the tournaments I actually enjoy or want to play in.'
Daily Record
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Furious Lexi Thompson tells snipers 'get your facts right' as she fires back at slow-play finger pointing
American star sets record straight after her outings at the Women's US Open Straight-talking Lexi Thompson has fired back at critics who pointed accusing fingers in her direction over slow play at the US Women's Open. The American star has come out strongly having been at the centre of social-media jibes and sniping during the tournament at Erin Hills. Thompson stood accused of being a culprit during her two outings alongside Charley Hull and Nelly Korda as rounds dragged towards six hours at the major. Social media pictures showed the English star sitting at the ninth tee waiting as Thompson and Korda holed out on the eighth green. Hull was also reported to have been walking 50 yards ahead of the American pair following their tee shots on the last hole and that led to suggestions of annoyance. But Thompson. who missed the cut at Erin Hills, has taken to her Instagram to set the record straight on the situation and give her version of events. After praising the USGA, volunteers and fans, she went on write: 'Because pace of play was a huge talking point this week. Want people to realise our group basically waited on every single hole on the group in front, we were never out of position/warned/or on clock. 'I'll be the first one to say I'm not as fast as my playing partners the two days, but I'm also the last person that wants to be out there for six hours. "So before you make assumptions, make sure you get all the facts right before basing it on pictures and little clips. That's all!'
Business Insider
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
No more long lines? AI and other new technologies are transforming amusement parks this summer.
It is a truth universally acknowledged: Lines are the worst part of amusement parks. Sure, too many $8 pretzels can gut your budget, but there's something uniquely taxing about waiting in line for a popular ride on a sticky summer day. There might be a fix, however: artificial intelligence. New technology of all kinds is transforming the theme park experience in the United States, helping drive growth in the industry. Among the theme parks leveraging new technology is Legoland. "We're using a technology called Vision AI," Adrian Thompson, operations transformation director for Legoland's parent company, Merlin Entertainments, toldBusiness Insider. "We have cameras placed over our attractions that analyze the number of people physically riding those attractions at any given time. It doesn't identify you uniquely, but it identifies the number of people riding an attraction." Thompson said incorporating AI into attraction line areas allows ride managers to receive data in real time, mitigating potential issues or delays. "If they see anomalies in that data — the number of dispatches has reduced or the queue times have gone up — they can take action at that moment and make changes," Thompson said. "Before, when it was all paper-based, we didn't have access to all that data in real time. You might not have gotten that information until the end of the day, at which point it's too late to impact the guest experience." New tech brings the Arctic to Florida About 40 miles north of Legoland is SeaWorld, where Expedition Odyssey opened to the public last month. Expedition Odyssey is an immersive flying theater ride that transports guests to the Arctic using real footage of the icy landscapes and wildlife. "There's no CGI in it," Conner Carr, the vice president of rides and engineering for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens' parent company, United Parks & Resorts, told BI. "The standard on those ride types has always been to generate with animation or CGI effects for a ride film." Instead, SeaWorld sent teams equipped with custom-lensed cameras and drones on expeditions to the Arctic to capture the videos. "For us, it's not just a theme park experience. It's that zoological aspect, too," Carr said. "We don't want to sit in an office and draw a beluga whale. We want to show them a real one." Although the authentic footage helps set Expedition Odyssey apart from its peers, Carr said there's another reason he refers to it as the "most technologically advanced ride" SeaWorld has ever done. A typical flying theater involves guests entering their seats, enjoying the show, and exiting before another group can enter. Expedition Odyssey uses a rotating main tower that allows guests to load the ride while another is already watching the footage. Once the ride is done, the tower will essentially flip, and the groups will switch places. "This lets us keep the line moving and procedures like you would see on a coaster, but on a completely new type of ride that typically doesn't allow that," Carr said. Carr said another way guests interact with new technology at SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks is by including audio and visual aspects in the line. "That's what Penguin Trek does," Carr said, referring to a roller coaster at the Orlando park. "When you dispatch on the ride, you have special effects and lights that make you feel like you're in an ice cave that's falling." That technology is also found at Busch Gardens, where guests can ride the Phoenix Rising roller coaster, which utilizes media screens, lights, and onboard audio. At SeaWorld, Carr said 3D scanning has become a reliable tool for repairs and creating models. "It is not just roller coaster track replacement. We use 3D scanning all over the place," Carr said. "The technology has been amazing for new projects like Penguin Trek and Expedition Odyssey." Augmented reality is another type of technology becoming more prevalent at amusement parks, including Legoland California and Legoland Florida. The Lego Ferrari Build & Race attraction allows guests to build and test cars, then use augmented reality to scan and race them virtually. Hands-on activities are a priority for Legoland theme parks, where the Ninjago ride uses hand-tracking movements that let riders use hand gestures to test their skills. "The beauty for us is we're always going to do hands-on experiences because it's Lego," Thompson said. Carr said SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have a similar approach, given their animal conservation efforts. "The mission is to inspire and educate right alongside rescuing all the animals," he said. Other theme parks in the United States are also flexing their tech acumen, including Disney, which partnered with Nvidia and Google DeepMind to develop Newton. The open-source physics engine will help robots learn to navigate tasks more accurately. Disney intends to use the technology to enhance the robotic characters in its theme parks to be more lifelike. "This collaboration will allow us to create a new generation of robotic characters that are more expressive and engaging than ever before—and connect with our guests in ways that only Disney can," Kyle Laughlin, the senior vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering's Research and Development, said in a press release. Theme parks are navigating tariffs Although the attractions industry continues to entice guests from around the globe, the volatility caused by the Trump administration's tariffs has become an unpredictable obstacle. "New tariffs will make securing product — like games, plush, and merchandise made outside the United States — more expensive to import. Ahead of the rate hikes, some operators created additional storage space and took possession of goods earlier in the season than what they have imported in the past to avoid paying the tariffs," the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions said this month. The association said the tariffs have also strained the US relationship with Canada, potentially affecting theme park attendance this summer. "Also of concern for several American facilities: a softening in the zest to travel south by Canadians who are accustomed to spending their summers in the United States. The current political climate between the two nations may adversely affect the sentiment to travel in the months ahead," the IAAPA said. However, the uncertainty hasn't stopped companies from steamrolling ahead with ambitious projects. Universal's newest theme park, Epic Universe, opened to fanfare this month in Florida, while Disney announced plans to develop its seventh theme park in Abu Dhabi.
Perth Now
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson says she hardly speaks to her father these days
Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson doesn't speak to her father. The 19-year-old reality star is the subject of a new Lifetime movie that charts her rise to fame as a child but after her dad Mike 'Sugar Bear' Thompson a negative reaction to the project, she has insisted that it didn't bother her beecause his "approval" is not of any importance to her. When asked if his criticism bothered her, she told TooFab: "Honestly, no. "I don't really even conversate with him ever. For me not to get his approval I guess, doesn't really affect me." The former 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' star appears with her mother and her sisters Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Efird and Jessica 'Chubbs' Shannon on the reality show 'Mama June: Family Crisis' but away from the spotlight, she is enrolled in college where she is training to be a nurse. She said: "It's going really, really well. I start my nursing program in June and I'm really excited about that. "I don't know [what people will think]! I think people will be a bit shocked, like, oh my god, Honey Boo Boo's taking my blood or taking care of my kid. But other than that, I think it'll be fine." The family has endured rocky relationships with one another over the years, which have seen various feuds and disagreements play out in front of the cameras, but Lauryn insisted that they have just had to "stick together" through it all. She said: "I definitely think there's been times in our arguments and stuff, there's times I just thought, 'Fine, I'm done, I'm just going to be done with this situation. "But for us, it's kind of like, we are all we've ever known. It's always kind of been us four girls. "Sticking together, talking it out and communicating does fix a lot of issues and actions being louder than words is a big statement for us."
USA Today
12 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Lexi Thompson posts message reacting to slow play accusations at 2025 U.S. Women's Open
Lexi Thompson posts message reacting to slow play accusations at 2025 U.S. Women's Open After posting scores of 73 and 74 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, Lexi Thompson missed the cut at the 2025 U.S. Women's Open by two strokes. Thompson gets plenty of attention whenever she plays, but it was all amplified the first two days as she was grouped with Nelly Korda and Charley Hull. Thompson was playing in her 19th U.S. Women's Open, a tournament she hasn't missed since she was 12 years old in 2007. From the start of her round, there was talk of pace of play on social media, with video clips showing Hull sitting on the hole ahead, waiting for her group to finish the prior one. Thompson took plenty of strays as a result. On Sunday, she posted a message on Instagram that covered a lot of ground. She started with a Thank You to the USGA and the fans who turned out to support her. She then addressed slow play and stated that her group was "never out of position/warned/ or on the clock." She admitted she not as fast a player as Korda or Hull, two of the fastest players on tour. She ended her message with a reminder that while she's cutting back on her schedule and being more selective in when and where she plays, she never said she was retired.
