GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Judy Rankin says Lexi Thompson is as patriotic as anybody that’s ever played. Stacy Lewis believes Thompson’s legacy in the game is the Solheim Cup. On the eve of what could be Thompson’s final appearance wearing the red, white and blue, there could be no better place to consider what the 29-year-old has meant to American golf.
“I think we all as players owe her a lot,” said Ireland’s Leona Maguire, who first played against Thompson at the 2009 Junior Solheim Cup. “She carried a lot of the weight for a long time of American hope for the tour, and she shouldered a lot of the media pressure and expectation.”
Thompson announced earlier this season at the U.S. Women’s Open that this would be her final full season on the LPGA. She hasn’t used the word retirement. While no one would be surprised to see her tee it up in select events in 2025, it’s difficult to believe that she’d play enough to merit a spot on the 2026 U.S. Solheim team.
“It’s a massive void,” said Lewis. “Whoever is the next captain, they need to get her on as an assistant, that’s all I can say. Lexi needs to be there in the team room.”
Thompson, who was one of three captain’s picks this year for Lewis, is making her seventh Solheim Cup appearance at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, with her first coming in 2013. She boasts an overall record of 9-7-7. Last year in Spain, Thompson played her way onto Lewis’ team despite playing some of the worst golf of her career. She turned it around in time for the competition, however, and Lewis sent her out in the first match.
Thompson went 3-1-0 for the week.
“She plays better golf here,” Lewis explained.
Lexi Thompson of Team United States signs autographs for fans prior to the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 12, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Coming into a Solheim Cup year, playing for Team USA is always Thompson’s No. 1 goal. While she was emotional last month at the Old Course at St. Andrews, where she likely played in her final AIG Women’s British Open and potentially her final major, Thompson hasn’t let herself go there so far this week.
“This is my favorite event that I’ve ever played in my career,” she said, “so enjoying the fans out there, signing the autographs, hearing the slow chants out there right now building up … just enjoying every step along the way.”
Winning, of course, would go a long way…
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