When Lexi Thompson tees off on Friday at 1:02 p.m. local time in Sylvania, Ohio, a pair of F-16s from the Ohio Air National Guard will fly over Highland Meadows Golf Club to celebrate the 29-year-old’s LPGA career. Friday has been designated Lexi Thompson Day at the Dana Open, in honor of her last full-time season on the LPGA.
While Thompson has never won the event, she finished runner-up to Sei Young Kim in 2018.
In addition to the flyovers, the tournament will be handing out a limited number of pink “Lexi” hats as well as “Thank you, Lexi” buttons.
The popular American, an 11-time winner on the LPGA, heads into the event more fresh than most given that she skipped last week’s major in France. She’s also on a run of three top-10 finishes that includes a playoff loss at the Meijer LPGA Classic. She’s put herself in prime position for a place on Stacy Lewis’ Solheim Cup team in September.
The 40th anniversary of the Dana Open kicks off Thursday with a purse of $1,750,000. While Amundi Evian winner Ayaka Furue is not in the field this week, runner-up Stephanie Kyriacou is after a career-best finish on the shores of Lake Geneva.
There are are number of notable names playing out of the tournament winners category, which includes members who won an official tournament while a member within the previous 21 seasons. Those players include LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame member Karrie Webb, who is gearing up for the AIG Women’s British Open at St. Andrews next month, Natalie Gulbis, Meaghan Francella and Heather Bowie Young, a former Dana Open winner who now serves as head coach of the women’s team at Florida Atlantic University.
Young is one of four past champions in the field, including 2023 winner Linn Grant, Gaby Lopez (2022) and Jasmine Suwannapura (2018).