LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Lexi Thompson is retiring this year from full-time competition, ending a career filled with a powerful game, an appeal to young fans and plenty of star-crossed moments in the majors.
Thompson was to speak later Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Women’s Open.
She is playing in her 18th Women’s Open, and the fact she is only 29 speaks to a career that began at such a young age.
Thompson was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, at the time the youngest ever to qualify. She also set an LPGA Tour record as the youngest winner when she captured the Navistar LPGA Classic at age 16.
Both records since have been broken.
Thompson won 15 times on the LPGA Tour, but only one major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, California. She was a runner-up in four other majors, most notably being penalized four shots in the final round of the 2017 Kraft Nabisco from a rules violation the day before, and losing a five-shot lead at The Olympic Club in the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open.
She grew up playing with her brothers, two of whom reached the PGA Tour, and was renowned for her power. Thompson accepted an exemption last year to play the PGA Tour event in Las Vegas, where she kept fans in suspense briefly about making the cut until fading.
For all her prodigious power, Thompson has gone nearly five years since her last LPGA victory, though she did win a Ladies European Tour event funded by Saudi-based Aramco in the fall of 2022.
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