Lexi Thompson just turned 27 in February, but she’s got one of the longest active streaks in U.S. Women’s Open history. When she tees it up at Pine Needles in North Carolina next month, she’ll be making her 16th consecutive appearance at the major tournament.
That’s what happens when you’re a phenom.
Thompson qualified for her first U.S. Women’s Open at the age of 12, the youngest player at the time to do so (a record since broken by Lucy Li).
She made her first appearance at the major in 2007 and amazingly, hasn’t missed one since. She has five career top-10 finishes at the event with her best finish coming in 2019 at tied for second.
Last year, Thompson led the tournament by five strokes on the final day and it looked like 2021 was going to be her year to claim the Harton Semple trophy, but a rough back nine opened the door for her opponents and she just missed entering a sudden-death playoff by one stroke.
“Yeah, of course, it’s hard to smile but, I mean, it was an amazing week,” Thompson told reporters in an emotional post-round interview last June. “I played not so good today with a few of the bogeys coming in on the back nine, but the fans were unbelievable, hearing the chants — it just gives me a reason to play.”
The fans have been rooting for her now for over a decade as she turned pro in 2010 at age 15.
And they didn’t have to wait long for her to win on the LPGA Tour, with her victory coming the next year at age 16.
To date, she has 14 professional victories, including one major, the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, and is currently ranked 6th on the Rolex Rankings. She’s also a two-time Olympian (Tokyo and Rio) and has participated in her five Solheim Cup events as a member of the U.S. team.
And she hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.
Coming off of a stellar 2021 where she made the cut in all 19 events in which she participated, recorded seven top-10 finishes, including three runner-up finishes at the Gainbridge LPGA, Kia Classic, and the Pelican Women’s Championship, Thompson has maintained her momentum into 2022.
So far this year, she has finished in the top 10 in four of the six events she has played, including coming in as runner-up by just two strokes in her most recent event, the Cognizant Founders Cup, earlier this month.
And while the Coral Springs, Florida native and resident certainly has her sights set on another major victory next week, she has also found time to focus on other things that are important to her, such as her family and self-care.
Thompson’s two brothers, Nicholas and Curtis are also professional golfers who have played on the Korn Ferry and PGA Tours, and Thompson has been spotted in the crowd supporting them at their events in between her own busy LPGA schedule. And, with a reputation for being one of the fittest athletes on Tour, Thompson has turned her passion for health, wellness, and self-care into businesses as an entrepreneur with her LEXI Skin and LEXI Fitness brands.
