The LPGA Tour has lost nine veteran players under the age of 40, including four major champions, who have decided to retire from full competition.
Lexi Thompson, whose playing career is marked as much by the majors that got away as the one major she won, announced in late May this would be her final year playing a full season. What that means remains a mystery, even to the 29-year-old Thompson.
“I may tee it up a few times next year,” she said, specifically citing the Chevron Championship, her lone major victory 10 years ago when it was the Kraft Nabisco and held in the California desert. “A matter of when and what tournaments, I don’t know. I am just going to take time for myself and take it day by day.”
Two-time major winner Brittany Lincicome announced she was done, making her farewell last week at Pelican Golf Club. She said she likely would play at the Chevron, one of the smaller fields and the major she won twice as the Kraft Nabisco.
Ally Ewing, 32, finished her eighth and final year on the LPGA. She announced two months ago she would retire and leaves on a high note. A three-time LPGA winner and four-time Solheim Cup player, she leaves at No. 18 in the women’s world ranking.
“I always wanted to run through the finish line of my career, so seeing a really good season gives me even more peace about my decision,” Ewing said in September when she disclosed her plans after a winning Solheim Cup.
The surprise was Marina Alex, 34, who kept her decision to a small group of family and friends who cheered her on the 18th at the CME Group Tour Championship, and by then word had spread. She won two times in her 11 seasons on the LPGA, and played in one Solheim Cup.
