The golf world bids farewell to one among its most proficient, devoted, and admired professionals as Lexi Thompson, at simply 29 years previous, steps away from full-time {golfing}. Her announcement, delivered with a combination of unhappiness and tears, does not solely mirror the farewell itself, however relatively the circumstances that led her to this choice.
Lexi Thompson, outcomes
“We professionals do what we love. We dwell each day to the fullest,” mentioned Lexi at a press convention previous the US Ladies’s Open in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “However we’re not good. We’re human.
Phrases damage. Generally it is onerous to beat.” There is a clear reference to the human drama of Grayson Murray, with Lexi citing her psychological well being as one of many elements behind her choice. She has all the time been candid about her struggles: in 2018, she took a 12 months and a half hiatus from {the golfing} world, citing psychological and emotional exhaustion after withdrawing from the Ladies’s British Open.
Extra lately, she admitted to not feeling “100% mentally wholesome” in recent times. Lexi emotionally recounted her years on the Tour. “I feel all of us have our difficulties, particularly right here on the sector. Sadly, in golf, you lose greater than you win.
It is a fixed battle. All the time placing your self on the market in entrance of the cameras. All the time working onerous with out reaching the specified outcomes. And to prime it off, dealing with criticism. It is powerful.” Lexi Thompson embodies the profile of the practically good professional.
At 29, she’s about to play her eighteenth US Ladies’s Open. Her first was in 2007 on the age of 12 at Pine Needles (a report on the time). 4 years later, she clinched her first victory on the LPGA Tour on the Navistar LPGA Traditional (one other report).
In whole, she’s secured 15 titles on the LPGA Tour, the premier girls’s circuit. In 240 begins, she’s earned over $14 million in prize cash. She’s performed in six Solheim Cups and two Olympics (2016 and 2021). But, it solely takes one empty spot on the shelf for the Majors.
In practically twenty years of her profession, the American has solely claimed the Kraft Nabisco Championship. It was in 2014 when Thompson was 19. In whole, she’s completed second in a Main 4 instances, within the prime three eight instances, and within the prime ten 19 instances.
The reminiscence of the 2021 Olympic Membership stings, the place Lexi managed to lose the US Ladies’s Open regardless of beginning with a five-stroke lead. In 2017, there was the notorious second-place end when, main the ANA Inspiration (now the Chevron Championship), she was penalized 4 strokes for incorrectly changing her ball and signing an incorrect scorecard.
All of this was initiated by a spectator comfortably seated at house. “Is that this a joke?” she mentioned to the marshal who knowledgeable her of the soar from -3 to +1 on the thirteenth gap. Thompson rallied however finally misplaced within the playoff to So Yeon Ryu.
It stays unclear what Lexi Thompson means by stepping again from full-time golf. Definitely, it means fewer flights and extra weekends spent in whole freedom. Thompson has expressed her want to be a part of the Solheim Cup workforce one final time.
She’s keen about health and is launching a devoted app. “To date, I’ve solely performed golf,” she says. The most effective is but to come back.
