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Delray Beach’s Lexi Thompson retiring from full-time golf on LPGA Tour at the age of 29

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Delray Beach’s Lexi Thompson retiring from full-time golf on LPGA Tour at the age of 29

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Lexi Thompson, who has been in the spotlight for nearly two decades after qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at the age of 12, announced Tuesday she is retiring from full-time competition on the LPGA Tour at the end of this year.

Thompson, who lives in Delray Beach, is 29.

“While it is never easy to say goodbye, it is indeed time,” she said in an Instagram post. “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.”

Thompson, born in Coral Springs, is an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, including one major, the 2014 Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas; and has won 15 times world wide. She is a two-time Olympian, a six-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member. She also has been one of the most recognizable faces in women’s golf for many years.

She is playing in her 18th straight U.S. Women’s Open this week at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Thompson was 12 in 2007 when she became the youngest ever to qualify for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open, held at Pine Needles. She turned pro in 2010 and then one year later, at age 16, she won the Navistar LPGA Classic, becoming the youngest champion on the LPGA Tour.

Both records since have been broken.

Thompson second woman to break 70 in PGA Tour event

In October, Thompson became the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas. She was the second woman to break 70 in a PGA Tour event, carding a 2-under 69 in the second round. Her 36-hole total of even par missed the cut by three shots.

More: Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner who lived in Jupiter, dead at 30 by suicide

Thompson has not won on the LPGA Tour in nearly five years, although she did win a Ladies European Tour event funded by Saudi-based Aramco in the fall of 2022. She has missed the cut in four of her last five events and last year she missed the CME Group Tour Championship for the first time.

With just more than $14 million in prize money, Thompson is 10th on the all-time LPGA money list.

Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf writer for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

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