LANCASTER, Pa. (Keynote USA) — Golf is all Lexi Thompson has ever known, and one of the LPGA Tour’s most popular players decided Tuesday that this will be her last year playing a full schedule.
Thompson chose the US Women’s Open, the major she first played when she was 12, to announce that she will retire at the end of the year. The 29-year-old American became emotional when talking about the amount of work that no one sees and the loneliness she has faced.
Thompson said he has contemplated semi-retirement in recent years and cited mental health as one of the factors that contributed to his decision.
“I think we all have our struggles, especially here,” he said. “Unfortunately, in golf you lose more than you win, so it’s an ongoing battle to continue to get in front of the cameras and continue to work hard and maybe not see the results you want and be criticized for it. So it’s difficult.
“I’ll stay, yes, I’ve struggled with it; I don’t think there’s anyone here who hasn’t,” he said. “It’s just a question of how well you hide it, which is very sad.”
Thompson will be playing in her 18th US Women’s Open before she turns 30. She won the first of her 15 LPGA titles at age 16. She is known both for the majors she lost and for the one she captured at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2014 when she was 19.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the US National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
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He made a vague reference to Grayson Murray, who spoke openly about alcoholism and his struggles with depression and anxiety in his life as a touring professional. Murray, who won the Sony Open in January, committed suicide on Saturday.
“Being here can be a lot. “It can be very lonely,” he said as his voice began to crack and he wiped away tears. “I just think, especially with what’s happened in golf recently, a lot of people don’t realize what we go through as professional athletes.
“We are doing what we love. We are trying our best every day. You know, we’re not perfect. We are humans. Words hurt. Sometimes it’s hard to overcome. … I may not have a great group of friends, but having the most important people around me has helped me get through some really tough times.”
It’s unclear exactly what semi-retirement means. Thompson, whose last LPGA victory was almost five years ago, said he would love to be on the Solheim Cup team one last time. He is into fitness and is launching an app. But it was time to find something else.
“I’ve only known golf as my life,” Thompson said. “That’s why it’s good to expand and be able to enjoy other things.”
The news surprised LPGA players. The notice was posted and then deleted a couple of times on various social media channels. Thompson was on the field when he first came out.
“She really dedicated her time to growing the game,” Nelly Korda said. “It’s sad to see that she’s obviously going to be gone and not be here with us, but she’s had an incredible career and I wish her the best in this new chapter of her life.”
Thompson was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 US Women’s Open at Pine Needles, at the time the youngest 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 have since been broken.
Thompson was a runner-up four times in the majors. She lost a five-shot lead at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club with a 41 on the back nine. Her most famous one was the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2017, and she got emotional talking about it.
She was headed for an easy victory in the final round when the LPGA discovered that she had incorrectly marked her golf ball on a green in the third round. She was penalized two shots for the infraction and two shots for signing an incorrect score due to the penalty.
“This is a joke?” he said when a rules official informed him on the 13th hole of the final round that he had been docked four strokes, turning a three-stroke lead into a one-stroke deficit. He recovered to force a tiebreaker before losing to So Yeon Ryu.
“That was a great moment in my career, not a great one,” he said. “I see it as I grew a fan base that I never thought I would have at the time. It’s an unfortunate circumstance, but to be there and hear chants of my name on 17 going down the stretch and just being able to sign all the autographs and go through that moment… the hardest moment of my career was like a blessing. .
“I gained fans I never thought I would have.”
Thompson grew up playing with two older brothers, both of whom made the PGA Tour, and she was known for her power. She accepted an exemption to play in a PGA Tour event in Las Vegas last year, keeping fans in suspense over whether she could make the cut until she faded.
Thompson couldn’t say how often he would play, only that he would “take it day by day and see how I feel.”
“But I’m very happy that this is my last year of full-time work,” she said.
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