Major winner Lexi Thompson to retire at 29 after rollercoaster career

Lexi Thompson will retire from full-time competition this year, ending a career defined by her powerful play, appealing to young fans and plenty of star-crossed moments in the majors.

Thompson is playing in her 18th US Women’s Open this week, and the fact she’s only 29 speaks to a career that started at such a young age.

Thompson was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 US Women’s Open at Pine Needles, at the time she was the youngest ever to qualify for the event. 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 won 15 times on the LPGA Tour but claimed just one major, at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2014, when she was 19. She finished second in four other majors, most notably when she conceded four shots in the final. round of the 2017 Kraft Nabisco due to a rules violation the day before. She also lost a five-shot lead at The Olympic Club during the 2021 US Women’s Open.

She grew up playing with her brothers, two of whom reached the PGA Tour, and was known for her strength. Thompson accepted an exemption to play at the PGA Tour event in Las Vegas last year, where she threatened to make the cut until she faded.

For all her prodigious power, Thompson has nearly five years since her last LPGA victory, although she did win a Ladies European Tour event in 2022.