Lexi Thompson has confirmed that she plans to retire from full-time professional golf at the end of the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
In a spoken letter published on her Instagram and shared by the LPGA Tour, Thompson said: “While it is never easy to say goodbye, it is indeed time. At the end of 2024, I will be stepping away from a full professional golf schedule.
“I’m excited to enjoy the remainder of the year as there are still goals I want to accomplish. I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life. Time with family, friends, and my trusted companion, Leo.
“I will always look for ways to contribute to the sport and inspire the next generation of golfers. And of course, I look forward to a little time for myself.”
29-year-old Thompson burst onto the scene as a 12-year-old in 2007 when – at the time – she became the youngest-ever qualifier to tee it up at the US Women’s Open. Since then, Thompson has featured in 17 consecutive championships and is set to make it 18 at Lancaster Country Club later this week.
One of one. 🌟 Lexi Thompson has announced she will be retiring at the end of the 2024 LPGA Tour season. pic.twitter.com/TctyYr5xy2May 28, 2024
Thompson turned professional in 2010 aged just 15 and scored her first LPGA Tour success via the 2011 Navistar Classic at the age of 16. At the time, that achievement made her the youngest-ever champion of an LPGA Tour event.
After the LPGA rewrote its age-requirement rules to grant her a full card, she then won three more times over the next couple of years.
Thompson has claimed one Major title and 10 regular LPGA Tour trophies throughout her long and illustrious career, last winning in 2019.
Thompson’s 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship victory (now the Chevron Championship) days after her 19th birthday marked a deserved success in the Majors – a category in which she has second-place finishes in all others except from The Women’s Open Championship.
There may have been further Major successes if not for several cruel twists of fate, too, with Thompson surrendering a five-stroke advantage down the back nine on Sunday in the 2021 US Women’s Open and giving up the overnight lead in the 2019 version to miss out by two shots.
A second Major championship might have arrived in 2017 when Thompson comfortably led the ANA…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golf Monthly…