Lexi Thompson has announced she will retire from golf at the end of the season.
Thompson revealed her decision via the USGA website on Tuesday of the 2024 US Women’s Open, a tournament she played for the first time at the age of 12.
Thompson is set to address the media at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania later.
She was the youngest player in the event’s history after making the 2007 championship. Now 29 years old, Thompson walks away from the women’s game as one of its biggest and most recognisable stars.
In a video posted on her Instagram page, Thompson looked back on her career in a game that “hasn’t always been easy”, but she also remembered the highs of her victories…
Lexi Thompson: Retirement comes as huge surprise
Thompson won the US Girl’s Championship in 2008 and made the cut at the US Women’s Open at the age of 14. She is about to make her 18th consecutive start at the tournament where she came tied for second in 2019.
A one-time major champion, she turned professional in 2010 at 15 years old and has 11 LPGA Tour titles to her name. Since winning the 2014 Chevron Championship, Thompson has had 16 major top-10s.
Having become a regular feature in the top 10 of the Rolex Rankings, Thompson has also played for the US Solheim Cup side six times, and she has represented the United States twice at the Olympics.
It’s been a career of both ups and downs for the LPGA Tour star. At the 2017 Chevron Championship, she incurred a four-stroke penalty for wrongly replacing her ball after marking it and then signing a wrong scorecard.
In 2018, she withdrew from the 2018 AIG Women’s Open after admitting to “not feeling herself.” After a month’s break, Thomspon returned to win the CME Group Tour Championship.
Thompson played in the Shriner’s Children’s Open on the PGA Tour at the end of 2023, becoming the seventh woman to play on the PGA Tour.
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