Lexi Thompson is approaching the likely curtain call of her Solheim Cup playing career. While the reality of the end has been dawning on her captains since Thompson announced in May that this year would be her final full-time season, it has been a challenge to imagine filling the void she will leave behind. The Solheim Cup is her favourite event, with Thompson always praising the honour of wearing her country’s colours.
Even while wrestling with the decision to announce her retirement, making the US team to play on American soil again at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club was at the top of the star’s goals for 2024. Four top-10 finishes helped Thompson earn a captain’s pick from Stacy Lewis for her seventh Solheim Cup. But hearing Lewis describe Thompson’s impact on the team, she may have made the team regardless of how she played.
“I think it is her legacy, is her and the Solheim Cup,” Lewis said. “Just the way she is with the crowd and the fans, this event is Lexi to a T.”
Thompson has been on every American roster since 2013 when she was 18. The most experienced player on this US team has been teammates with Lewis and all four American assistant captains over the years, bringing back memories for Paula Creamer of when they played four-ball together.
The 11-time LPGA winner was a key part of the American’s last two victories as part of one of the most potent tandems in US Solheim history with Cristie Kerr. They went 4-0-2 across six team sessions in 2015 and 2017. In the US’s most recent victory at Des Moines Golf & Country Club, Thompson had one of the best performances of her career. Trailing steely European veteran Anna Nordqvist 4 down going into the back nine, US captain Juli Inkster gave Thompson a pep talk. Thompson holed out for eagle on the 10th, starting an impressive charge to ultimately tie the Swede.
“I think those are some of my best matches,” Nordqvist said. “And I think we ended up tying both, which seemed like a fair result in both.”
Even mired in a struggling 2023 campaign before the matches in Spain, Thompson played beyond her poor form with an impressive 3-1-0 week. While her performance may have been overshadowed by Thompson’s response to a shank on the 18th green during Friday four-ball, she answered numerous critics with a crucial 2&1 victory in singles against Emily Kristine Pedersen as the final match on the course to tie the Solheim Cup at 14 points apiece.
“I think Solheim Cups bring a different pressure that we’re not used to week in and week out,” Thompson said. “I feel like, not only myself, but all of us players have pulled off shots or made putts under extreme pressure when we needed to, and I think that’s kind of what we build off of this week, that we can perform any type of shot under that type of circumstance.”
Thompson’s impact goes beyond her 9-7-7 career record, as multiple captains lauded her for how she sets a tone for the American’s ethos with her team-first attitude. Lewis was alongside Thompson earlier in the week as the six-time Solheim Cup veteran was trying a different ball in preparation for foursomes. Thompson’s wedges were flying seven metres shorter than usual, which often leads to wanting to avoid playing with that particular ball.
Not for Thompson.
“Anybody else would just be freaking out that a wedge is going that much shorter,” Lewis explained. “She’s like, ‘It’s fine. I’ll just get my numbers.'”
Out here living the dream with @Lexi 💭 pic.twitter.com/EKYX8TDZD5
— LPGA (@LPGA) September 11, 2024
US assistant captain Angela Stanford admires how gracious Thompson has been with fans all these years. Stanford had to drag the most experienced player on the American team to the first tee to start her practice round on Wednesday, as she would not refuse anyone who asked for an autograph.
“She’s taken us to that next level,” Stanford said. “So we’re very grateful and happy for Lexi. If she wants to move on, then we’ll be happy for her.”
Leona Maguire, a stalwart European Solheim Cup talent, praised Thompson during her news conference. Maguire met Thompson after playing against her in the 2010 Curtis Cup, the American’s final amateur event before turning professional. Ever since, Maguire has seen how much of an impact Thompson has had not just on the Solheim Cup, but the professional women’s game.
“Lexi has been a big face of the LPGA for a long time,” Maguire said. “I think we all as players owe her a lot. She carried a lot of the weight for a long time of American hope for the tour and she shouldered a lot of the media pressure and expectation. She handled it with a lot of grace, a lot more than a lot of people would have.”
Since Thompson announced her retirement, she has had moments where the emotions of her career ending have bubbled up, most recently while crossing Swilcan Bridge at the Old Course for the last time during last month’s AIG Women’s Open. That moment hasn’t yet happened this week, as Thompson has remained present among the cheers for her and laughter among her teammates.
Thompson counted out four remaining events she plans to play on the schedule: Kroger Queen City Championship and Walmart NW Arkansas Championship this month, before a curtain call at the two Florida swing events in November. Thompson could not imagine anything beyond playing this week when asked about future Solheim Cup roles.
If this is the end of Thompson’s playing Solheim Cup career, Lewis has already started advocating to get her on staff for 2026.
“It’s a massive void,” Lewis said. “Whoever is the next captain, they need to get her on as an assistant, that’s all I can say.
“Lexi needs to be there in the team room.”
