NAPLES, Fla. — Lexi Thompson packed all the essentials for her final chapter as a full-time member on the LPGA Tour.
Clubs. Balls. Tees.
And plenty of shoes and gloves.
“I have my usual gloves and shoes to be signed for all the fans,” she said. “I’ll be giving out some shoes. I don’t have that many anymore. I’ve given out so many.”
The tradition started about 15 years ago, when Thompson was a teenage prodigy. Then she started seeing pictures of little girls holding up her shoes. Now, those pictures are on her desk at home.
“To see the smile on fan’s faces and the impact, that means more to me than anything,” Thompson said.
Ready to enjoy and lead a ‘more normal life’
A flood of emotions will come over Thompson on Sunday as she walks down the 18th fairway at Tiburon Golf Club. There will be other Sundays, but not nearly as many as she plans on playing only a few events each year.
But as far as going through the grind of about 20 competitive events and other obligations each year, and traveling around the world to play golf tournaments, those days are over.
Thompson, 29, is retiring from full-time golf. Although she will not be joining the early-bird and pickleball crowd as a full-fledged South Florida retiree, she is looking forward to a much more relaxed schedule. She will be living “more of a normal life,” one that will include spending more time on her business, Lexi Fitness, traveling for pleasure and picking up another hobby or two.
“I am just going to embrace the week,” said Thompson, who made the announcement in May. “After the announcement it was an emotional few weeks not really knowing what to expect with the reaction from everybody, but it’s been incredible.”
And it’s fitting one of the most popular and influential golfers ends her official season at the CME Group Tour Championship (she will be teaming with Rickie Fowler at the Grant Thornton Invitational next month at Tiburon), after not qualifying for the event for the first time last year. She is in the field this week by virtue of finishing 50th on the points list.
Thompson missed four straight cuts during a six-week stretch starting in April but rebounded with three consecutive top 10s, including runner-up at the Meijer LPGA Classic. She has not won on the LPGA in nearly five years, her last victory at the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic.
But her favorite memories since deciding golf would no longer be the focus of her life were not about one shot, one hole, one tournament.
But the notes. The signs.
And the smiles.
“Just the amount of love from the fans and everybody that has supported me throughout my career, whether it’s messages through Instagram or notes or signs that people make or give to me at the end of my round,” she said. “It puts me in tears because that’s why I played the game. I wanted to make an impact on the sport.”
She has … beyond breaking glass ceilings along the way.
Lexi Thompson won 11 times on LPGA Tour, 15 times world wide
Thompson is an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, including one major at the 2014 Chevron Championship. She has won 15 times world wide. She is a two-time Olympian, a seven-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member.
In 2007, at the age of 12, Thompson became the youngest ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. At age 16, she won the Navistar LPGA Classic, becoming the youngest champion on the LPGA Tour.
Both records since have been broken.
In October of 2023, 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, shooting a 69 in the second round. Her 36-hole total of even par missed the cut by three shots.
And with nearly $15 million in prize money, Thompson is ninth on the all-time LPGA money list.
But as much as any golfer, she has connected with and inspired young girls and boys. And she has been open about her mental health struggles.
“Seeing the smiles on their faces,” she said about the kids. “Whatever it is that I was a role model, that’s meant more than anything.”
That’s what she will miss the most. And stopping to greet every smiling little girl and boy, making their days a little more special by handing over a pair of her shoes.
“I love doing it,” she said. “I wanted to leave the game in a better place and have that impact. This week is always great because so many kids come out to watch. I’m really hoping to see a ton over the weekend and give out some shoes and just see the smiles and the happiness that they have to just be out here.”