Lexi Thompson introduced Tuesday she is going to retire from taking part in skilled golf full-time at the tip of the 2024 season citing psychological well being. She is retiring at age 29, an age far youthful than when most professional golfers put their golf equipment away.
Thompson turned a star in girls’s skilled golf at a young age, qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Open at age 12. Four years later, Thompson turned the youngest champion of an LPGA event occasion by successful the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic.
In 2014, she gained her first, and to date solely, main championship by prevailing at the (*29*) Nabisco Championship.
Thompson practically gained one other main in 2017. At the 2017 ANA Inspiration, holding a three-stroke lead with six holes to play within the closing spherical, she was knowledgeable that she was given a four-stroke penalty for misplaying a ball and signing an incorrect scoreboard a day earlier after a tv viewer referred to as within the infraction. The incident prompted the LPGA to challenge a rule change to stop such incidents from reoccurring.
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Although the incident nonetheless weighs on her, she mentioned she acknowledged she gained quite a few followers following the event.
“I’m not going to sit right here and say that second did not harm, nonetheless does, nevertheless it’s half of a profession,” she mentioned.
She wound up ending within the top 12 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking yearly from 2014 via 2022. But her efficiency has waned lately. She completed final 12 months at No. 31. She has continued to slide within the rating, at present standing at No. 54.
Having not gained a event since 2019 has taken a toll on her, Thompson conceded.
“I believe all of us have our personal struggles, particularly out right here,” she mentioned. “Unfortunately in golf, you lose greater than you win, so it is an ongoing battle to proceed to put your self on the market in entrance of the cameras and persevering with to work onerous and possibly not seeing the outcomes you need and getting criticized for it. So it is onerous.”
Thompson recommended that each one LPGA members battle psychological well being. “I do not suppose there’s any person out right here that hasn’t,” she mentioned.
“It’s only a matter of how effectively you disguise it, which could be very unhappy,” she added. “It’s an vital factor to tackle and be OK with getting assist and getting the assist and surrounding your self with the those that assist you and love you, as a result of there’s at all times those that do care a lot about you and can assist you to get via these robust moments.”
Thompson famous that she might proceed to play part-time, however would wish to take issues day-to-day.
In the meantime, she is getting ready for this weekend’s U.S. Women’s Open.
