Lexi Thompson told herself she wasn’t going to cry. But her voice cracked right as she began to talk about the loneliness of tour life. Not that she wants a pity party, by any means. But as the 29-year-old talked about the decision to retire from full-time golf at the end of the 2024 season, she wanted to reiterate the human element of the game. Words hurt. And she was proud to have overcome some brutally tough moments.
“I just think, especially with what’s happened in golf, as of recent too,” she said, “a lot of people don’t — they don’t realize a lot of what we go through as a professional athlete. … I might not have a huge friend group, but to have the people that matter the most around me has gotten me through some really hard times.”
Thompson’s retirement announcement came on Tuesday at the 79th U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club, where Thompson will make her 18th start in the championship. Her history with the Women’s Open began in 2007 at Pine Needles, when the prodigious 12-year-old became the youngest to ever compete. Though she’s never won the U.S. Women’s Open, this is where it all started, and she found it a fitting place to break the news.
