Lexi Thompson mastering the balance of part-time tour play, set for Meijer LPGA Classic

BELMONT - Lexi Thompson doesn't play every tournament anymore.

The major champion and one of the faces of the LPGA Tour is looking for a balance between her personal life and her career, so she has stepped back from being a fulltime player.

But there are certain tournaments she knows are on her schedule, and one of those is theMeijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

"It has been very important for me (to find the balance). I made the decision about two years ago and it was time. I am 31 and this is my 16th or 17th year on tour. I wanted to be able to have more of a life balance," Thompson said. "This life has been amazing, but I just got married and I want to be able to settle down and start a family and be able to be home and not miss things. Having the balance has been so important for my mind."

More:Meijer LPGA Classic returns for 12th year at Blythefield, tickets on sale

More:Carlota Ciganda uses late precision to claim Meijer LPGA Classic title by one shot

That allows her to pick and choose when she is ready to contend in a tournament.

"Tournament-wise, I know what courses set up for my game and what works with my schedule," she said. "But it is really about how my game is. I don't want to get up for an event if I don't feel like I can win it."

The tournament, in its 12th year, runs June 18-21 at Blythefield Country Club. The event has raised more than $13 million for local food pantries in the Midwest over the years and has a goal of raising $1.5 million this year - a part of the week that is not lost on the players.

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"Seeing that in action and having the direct impact is very special … This is one of the favorite stops on tour for the players. We know Meijer is one of the best events we have," Thompson said. "We always feel so welcome. They make a point to ask the players what can make it better, and that is what makes this such a favorite, (helping each other)."

Thompson has been a star at Blythefield. She won the tournament in 2015 and has been in contention nearly every year, earning several top-five finishes.

"I get to hit a good amount of drivers out here, and you have to have a birdie streak. You have to hit a lot of birdies," she said. "It is almost like a second home for me. I stay with the same host family an everyone is just so welcoming. Winning it was one of my best memories on tour."

Having it be Father's Day weekend doesn't hurt, either.

"It has always been a big deal for me because usually my dad does come," she said. "I love having him around. He has been a huge part of my life and my No. 1 supporter, along with my mom. He has been there for all the ups and downs. I love seeing it out on the course, too, the dads and kids watching - you can't beat that."

And Thompson has enjoyed the biggest following of fans, giving her plenty of chances to see those father-daughter and father-son moments.

"I have so many amazing memories at the Meijer LPGA Classic. I have been coming here since I was younger. Driving up the road brings back good memories," Thompson said. "It is just good to be welcomed by the fans. We get some of the biggest crowd on tour in this event. It just keeps building year after year. That is what it is all about. We want to keep building this event."

Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona atDan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com.Follow him on X, formerly known as  Twitter@DanDAddonaor Facebook@HollandSentinelSports.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel:Meijer LPGA Classic set for Lexi Thompson return at Blythefield

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Lexi Thompson mastering the balance of part-time tour play, set for Meijer LPGA Classic

BELMONT - Lexi Thompson doesn't play every tournament anymore. The major champion and one of the faces of the LPGA Tour is loo...

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Two-time LPGA major winner, former No. 1 announces pregnancy

Two-time major champion and former No. 1 So Yeon Ryu has announced that she and husband Matthew Jung are expecting their first child. Ryu, 35, posted the news on Instagram on Mother's Day.

Ryu and Jung tied the knot late last year in South Korea in agorgeous ceremony at the luxurious Shilla Hotel.

"He's actually Korean-American," Ryu toldGolfweeklast October of Jung. "He grew up in the States all the way until when he was 25, I want to say. And then he moved to Korea in 2012. So he's sort of like, when I went to the U.S., he was in Korea. And now he has been living Korea for like 10 years, and then we did a blind date and kind of clicked."

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Ryu, 35, retired in 2024with six LPGA titles, including two majors at the 2011 U.S. Women's Open and 2017 ANA Inspiration.

A host of LPGA players were quick to offer their congratulations, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, Paula Creamer, Lexi Thompson, Ai Miyazato and Mizuho Americas Open host Michelle Wie West.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek:Two-time LPGA major winner, former No. 1 announces pregnancy

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Two-time LPGA major winner, former No. 1 announces pregnancy

Two-time major champion and former No. 1 So Yeon Ryu has announced that she and husband Matthew Jung are expecting their first child. R...

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Marty Makary resigns as FDA commissioner after internal tensions

Washington — Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, stepping aside amid a swirl of reports that his tenure was coming to an end over internal policy disagreements.

His departure followsreportsofconflict and tensionover the FDA's agenda. On May 6, the FDAapproved some flavored e-cigarettesfrom the vaping company Glas Inc., and touted its safety restrictions to limit use by young people. According toThe Wall Street Journal, the move came only after Mr. Trump pressured Makary to approve the fruit-flavored vapes, which he had been refusing to do.

One source familiar with the matter told CBS News that Makary is leaving over the e-cigarette dispute, adding that the commissioner didn't want to approve the flavored varieties but had been forced to by other members of the administration.

CBS News and other outlets had reported in recent days that President Trumphad signed off on a plan to fire him. Makary didn't appear Monday in the Oval Office alongside the president and other top public health officials for an event on maternal health.

Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday afternoon, the president said he did not want to discuss the circumstances of Makary's departure, but called him a "great guy" and a "friend of mine."

"Marty's a terrific guy, but he's going to go on and he's going to lead a good life," Mr. Trump said. "He was having some difficulty. You know, he's a great doctor. And he was having some difficulty. But he's going to go on and he's going to do well."

Later in the afternoon, the presidentposted to Truth Sociala screenshot of a text from Makary submitting his resignation. "It's been the honor of a lifetime to serve as your FDA Commissioner. I am forever grateful," he wrote.

In aseparate post, the president said that Kyle Diamantas, the deputy commissioner for food, would step into Makary's role on an acting basis.

Makary's resignation is the latest shakeup within the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA. Vaccines chief Vinay Prasad, an ally of Makary,recently departedfor a second time.

Makary was expected to testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Diamantas is expected to testify in Makary's place, according to one source, but the hearing was postponed. The Senate Appropriations subcommittee said a new hearing would be announced at a later date.

Career FDA officials told CBS News there was widespread joy and relief among rank-and-file inside the agency over Makary's resignation.

One senior official accused Makary of "endless self-promotion" and engaging in an unprecedented level of "micromanaging and meddling in activities commissioners used to not interfere with."

Under Makary, career officials said, there was a lack of transparency, and staff would often find out about new initiatives through press releases or articles in medical journals.

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The senior official also cited Makary's management of a voucher program that would fast-track drugs through the agency's approval process, noting that it forced "virtually impossible levels of work on divisions that are significantly understaffed right now" due to an exodus of veteran scientists.

Staffers also brushed off concern that Diamantas would be as difficult to deal with as Makary.

"He's an outstanding person and great leader, with high integrity and sound judgment," another official said.

The FDA commissioner is responsible for overseeing and regulating drugs, vaccines and tobacco, among other things. The FDA regulates one-fifth of consumer spending in the U.S., making it a powerful agency within American public health.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who served as FDA commissioner for two years during Mr. Trump's first term,told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan"on Sunday that the role is a "very difficult job," and noted the upheaval at the FDA since last year has been detrimental.

"There's been a lot of departures from the agency. You've seen political appointees take over what are typically career leadership positions, running the medical product centers, the drug center and the biologics center," Gottlieb said. "So, I think cumulatively, that's taken a toll on the agency, and this continued speculation that we saw on Friday, I think is just going to be another step downward."

Makary, a British-American surgeon, was confirmed to lead the FDA in March 2025. He was an avid supporter of the Make America Healthy Again movement and had been highly critical of the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The vaping issue wasn't the only one that caused friction for Makary. Conservatives and anti-abortion groups also sought Makary's ouster after pressing the FDA to take action on the abortion drug mifepristone.

In 2021, the Biden administration made it possible for women to receivethe pillsvia telehealth and by mail. Themajorityof women who terminate pregnancies do so through medication abortions.

Last June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked Makary toreviewmifepristone to examine "real-world outcomes and evidence, relating to the safety and efficacy of the drug."

In December, there were reports he had slow-walked the study, and soon afterward, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and other conservativescalled for Makary's firing.

The group called for an immediate study and went on to accuse Makary of "severely undermining" Mr. Trump and Vance on the issue.

"Makary must go," SBA Pro-Life America said at the time.

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Marty Makary resigns as FDA commissioner after internal tensions

Washington — Marty Makary resigned as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, stepping aside amid a swirl of repor...

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The barista is human but an AI agent runs this experimental Swedish cafe

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Thecoffeemight be poured by a human hand, but behind the counter something far less traditional is calling the shots at an experimental cafe in Stockholm.

Sweden AI Cafe

San Francisco-based startup Andon Labs has put anartificial intelligence agentnicknamed “Mona” in charge at the eponymous Andon Café in the Swedish capital. Whilehuman baristasstill brew the coffee and serve the orders, theAI agent— powered byGoogle’s Gemini— oversees almost every other aspect of the business, from hiring staff to managing inventory.

It is not clear how long the experiment will last, but the AI agent appears to be struggling to turn a profit in Stockholm’scompetitive coffee trade. The cafe has made more than $5,700 in sales since it opened in mid-April, but less than $5,000 remains from its original budget of $21,000-plus. Much of the cash was spent on one-time setup costs, and the hope is that it eventually levels out and makes money.

Many cafe patrons have found it amusing to visit abusiness that's run by AI.Customers can pick up a telephone inside the cafe and ask the agent questions.

“It’s nice to see what happens if you push the boundary,” customer Kajsa Norin said. “The drink was good.”

Experts worry about AI's role going forward

Experts sayethical concerns abound, ranging fromtechnology's role in humankind's futureto conducting job interviews and judging employee performance.

Emrah Karakaya, an associate professor of industrial economics at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, likened the experiment to “opening Pandora’s box" and saidputting AI in chargecan cause many problems. What might happen, he said, if a customer gets food poisoning? Who’s to blame?

“If you don’t have the required organizational infrastructure around it, and if you overlook these mistakes, it can cause harm to people, to society, to the environment, to business,” Karakaya said. “The question is, do we care about this negative impact?”

Founded in 2023, Andon Labs is an AI safety and research startup that says it focuses on “stress-testing” AI agents in the real world by giving them “real tools and real money.” It has worked with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Claude’s Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Elon Musk’s xAI, and the startup says it is preparing for a future where “organizations are run autonomously by AI.”

The Swedish cafe is billed as a “controlled experiment” to explore how AI might be deployed going forward.

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“AI will be a big part of society in the future, and therefore we want to make this experiment (to) see what ethical questions arise when we have AI that employs other people and runs a business,” said Hanna Petersson, a member of Andon Labs’ technical staff.

The lab previously held pilots that put Anthropic’s Claude AI in charge of a vending machine business and a San Francisco gift store. The vending machine simulation revealed some worrying traits: The AI agent told customers it would issue refunds but never did, and it also intentionally lied to suppliers about competitor pricing to gain leverage.

AI agent struggles with inventory orders

Mona got to work after it was prompted with some basic instructions, Petersson said. The team told it to try to run the cafe profitably, be friendly and easygoing, and figure out operational details by itself but ask for new tools if needed.

From there it set up contracts for electricity and internet, and secured permits for food handling and outdoor seating. The agent then advertised for staff on LinkedIn and Indeed, and set up commercial accounts with wholesalers for daily bread and bakery orders. It communicates with the baristas via Slack, often messaging them outside of working hours, which is a workplace no-no in Sweden.

Other problems have arisen, particularly related to inventory.

The AI agent has placed orders for 6,000 napkins, four first-aid kits and 3,000 rubber gloves for the tiny cafe — plus canned tomatoes that aren’t used in any dish the cafe serves.

And then there’s the bread. Sometimes the agent orders far too much, while other days it misses bakeries’ daily deadlines, forcing the baristas to strike sandwiches from the menu.

Petersson said the ordering issues are likely due to the AI assistant’s “limited context window.”

“When old memory of ordering stuff is out of the context window, she completely forgets what she has ordered in the past,” Petersson said.

Barista Kajetan Grzelczak said he isn’t worried about being replaced by AI just yet.

“All the workers are pretty much safe,” he said. “The ones who should be worried about their employment are the middle bosses, the people in management.”

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The barista is human but an AI agent runs this experimental Swedish cafe

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Thecoffeemight be poured by a human hand, but behind the counter something far less traditional is calling the shots a...

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Developer of education tool Canvas issues apology after hack

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The developer of Canvas, widely used by U.S. institutions for grades and class materials, issued an ‌apology after a hack that blocked students from accessing the education tool ‌and involved student data being stolen by a cybercriminal hacking group.

"I'll start where I should: with ​an apology," Steve Daly, the CEO of Canvas' parent company Instructure, said in a blog post on Monday.

ShinyHunters, a hacking group known for data theft and extortion campaigns targeting major global companies, said in a May 3 post on its ‌website that it had stolen ⁠roughly 6.65 terabytes of Canvas data.

The data, linked to nearly 9,000 schools worldwide, included student names, email addresses and private messages ⁠between students, teachers, and other staff, the group added.

Student newspapers across the United States reported last week the hack caused widespread disruption as students prepared for end-of-year ​tasks and ​assignments.

The software is used by schools for ​class assignments and information sharing, ‌as well as messaging between students and school faculty.

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The Instructure CEO said Canvas "is fully operational and remains safe to use."

"Over the past few days, many of you dealt with real disruption. Stress on your teams. Missed moments in the classroom. Questions you couldn't get answered. You deserved more consistent communication from us, ‌and we didn't deliver it. I'm sorry for ​that," Daly said.

He added the company will give ​more consistent updates going forward.

Daly ​said the incident involved unauthorized access to information like usernames, ‌email addresses, course names, enrollment information ​and messages.

Core learning data ​like course content, submissions and credentials was not compromised, he said.

He said the company had identified a vulnerability regarding support tickets in the app's "Free ​for Teacher" environment that ‌was exploited.

That component of the app has been temporarily disabled while ​the company completes a full security review, Daly added.

(Reporting by Kanishka ​Singh in Washington; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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Developer of education tool Canvas issues apology after hack

By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The developer of Canvas, widely used by U.S. institutions for grades and class m...

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