LANCASTER, Pa. — Some things never change. The love golf fans have for Lexi Thompson is one of them.
If you stood in her gallery on Friday at the U.S. Women’s Open, cheers of, “Go Lexi!” or “You got this, Lexi” ping-ponged their way throughout the crowd, with fans of every gender, age and background continuing to cheer Thompson on as she battled through the second round of the year’s second major championship.
It didn’t matter to them how she played. After Thompson announced her intentions to retire at the end of the 2024 season on Tuesday at the U.S. Women’s Open, every spectator on the grounds at Lancaster Country Club just wanted to get a glimpse of the superstar this week in her 18th and final playing of the tournament, whether she shot 65 or 85.
And while she didn’t play the type of golf she had wanted to, ultimately missing the cut with a two-day total of 13-over after carding rounds of 78 and 75, Lexi was grateful for the support she felt from both her family and the fans on day two in Pennsylvania.
“It's meant the world to me. I'm so blessed and grateful for the family I have,” said an emotional Thompson. “Going into the week, I knew it was going to be a big week. To have my family and friends and the amount of fans that were out there this week, that's what we want.
“That's what we want for the game of golf to grow. Each and every tournament, I hope it continues to do so, whether I'm teeing it up or not. That's what the LPGA needs. That's what women's golf needs and just women's sports.”
It’s been a nostalgic week for the 11-time LPGA Tour winner. Even though she never got a chance to hoist the Harton S. Semple trophy, it was this event that started it all for Lexi, as she burst onto the golf scene after qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at just 12 years old.
Seventeen years on, a lot has changed for Thompson. She’s a women’s golf icon, a player who is adored by fans and admired by her peers. She’s won a major title and has been on six U.S. Solheim Cup teams, hoping to qualify for her seventh later this year. She’s a two-time Olympian and a Founders Award winner, an exemplary model of what it means to act like one of the 13 women who founded the LPGA Tour in 1950.
But some things never change. And Lexi is still Lexi, smiling through the tears in her post-round media availability on Friday and wearing her ladybug earrings, just like she did as a pre-teen at Pine Needles in her breakout moment at the U.S. Women’s Open, and appreciative of everything this event has afforded her over the last nearly two decades.
“This is where my whole dream got started when I was 12,” said Thompson. “I know when I teed it up first at Pine Needles, that's where I wanted to be and playing against the best. To continue to do so and to be playing in my 18th, even though it wasn't the way I wanted to end it, it was always special every time I teed it up in a USGA event. I cherished every moment that I had.”
Retirements often provide moments of reflection on both the positive and negative parts of a career. Having just shared her news on Tuesday, it’s likely Thompson hasn’t had much time to think back on what her journey in golf has meant to her throughout the years.
But she has surely had flashbacks of being that young, baby-faced girl in 2007 at Pine Needles while playing in her last U.S. Women’s Open this week in Lancaster, Pa. And when asked what advice she would have given herself as a youngster at that time, the words were sage and sound, uttered only by someone who now has a full understanding of what it means to have a sport at the center of your life.
“I would say probably just enjoy life. It's tough. That's always a hard question,” Thompson said. “But I would just say enjoy every single experience, like really just embrace every shot you hit, every tournament you have. Just be grateful for everything that you have in your life. Enjoy every experience that you get to make and just being out here.”
Lexi is going to have plenty more of those experiences throughout the rest of this year. And there’s no doubt that just like they have at Lancaster Country Club, every fan in the coming months will be clamoring for an autograph or craning their neck to watch Thompson rip a driver, desperate to see and interact with Lexi’s greatness just one more time.
And while everything will be different for Thompson at the end of 2024, one fact will always remain the same. Lexi is still beloved by golf fans, no matter if she wins or loses.
And that’s something that’s never going to change.
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