Lexi Thompson is retiring from full-time golf at 29

Lexi Thompson is to retire this year from full-time competition at the end of this season, ending a career filled with a powerful game, an appeal to young fans and plenty of star-crossed moments in the majors.

She is playing in her 18th US Women’s Open this wee, and the fact she is only 29 speaks to a career that began at such a young age.

Thompson was 12 when she qualified for the 2007 US Women’s Open at Pine Needles, at the time the youngest to qualify. She also set an LPGA Tour record as the youngest winner when she captured the LPGA Classic at age 16.

Both records since have been broken.

Thompson won 15 times on the LPGA Tour, but only one major, at the Championship in Rancho Mirage, California. She was a runner-up in four other majors, most notably being penalised four shots in the final round of the 2017 Championship at Rancho Mirage, from a rules violation the day before called in by a TV viewer. She also lost a five-shot lead at The Olympic Club in the 2021 US Women’s Open.

She grew up playing with her brothers, two of whom reached the PGA Tour, and was renowned for her power. Thompson accepted an exemption last year to play the PGA Tour event in Las Vegas, where she kept fans in suspense briefly about making the cut until fading.

For all her prodigious power, Thompson has gone nearly five years since her last LPGA victory, though she did win a Ladies European Tour event in 2022.