Lexi Thompson – Syndication Server

Photos: End of an era for Lexi Thompson at 2024 CME Group Tour Championship

Thompson announced at the U.S. Women’s Open that 2024 would be her final full season on the LPGA.

NAPLES, Fla. – Lexi Thompson walked of the ninth tee box holding a towel to wipe the tears. While it wasn’t the last round of her career, Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship marked the end of an era. The 29-year-old announced earlier this year that 2024 would be her last full season on the LPGA.

Thompson’s mother led a small group of family and friends onto the final green to present a bouquet of flowers and finish off the round with hugs. Thompson’s boyfriend, Max Provost, held her dog Leo in his arms. Older brother Nicholas carried the bag this week at Tiburon Golf Club.

The emotions continued to pour out moments later when the popular and powerful Thompson met with the media.

“I think ever since I was super young, I have held a lot in, and just – sorry,” said Thompson as she gathered herself. “No, I’ve held a lot in. I think as athletes you’re always told to be strong and be intimidating on the golf course. Don’t show any sign the weakness.

Lexi Thompson of the United States plays her shot from the 12th tee during the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 at Tiburon Golf Club on November 24, 2024 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

“I did it for a while, and it’s just, you know, it’s gotten to me sometimes. It’s hard. It’s not just me, it’s everybody that goes through a lot of things. It’s just a matter of how much you’re willing to hold in and let people in on your emotions. It’s kind of like the time I’m actually letting myself feel those emotions and actually be real.”

Thompson was actually one of three players to bid farewell to full-time golf at the CME. While 32-year-old Ally Ewing and Thompson announced their decisions months ago, it was news to most that 34-year-old Marina Alex had decided to step away. A total of a dozen players have announced they’re stepping away from full-time competition this season.

Alex’s friends and family were decked out in special T-shirts that represented each of her 11 seasons on the LPGA. They popped champagne to celebrate.

The Vanderbilt grad and longtime Palm Beach Gardens resident played her first full season on the LPGA in 2014 and won twice. Alex closed with a 66 at Tiburon to finish tied for 12th.

“The last few years have been tough, the travel, the grind,” said Alex. “This is year 11. Trying to keep up with everyone out here, I’m doing my absolute best.”

Ewing, a three-time winner on the LPGA, was greeted by family and her puppy Rusty on the 18th green. Getting a dog topped the retirement bucket list for Ewing, who leaves the LPGA playing some of the best golf of her career. Ewing closed with back-to-back 68s at CME to notch her 11th top 25 of the season.

“I’m just overwhelmed with how much love and support I’ve had,” said Ewing. “Even though this chapter is closing, they are so excited to have me around a little bit more and I’m excited to do that as well.”

All the love for @Lexi and everything she has given to this game and the fans 🩷 pic.twitter.com/RpHAmoRfpM

— LPGA (@LPGA) November 24, 2024

Thompson, 29, is an 11-time winner on the LPGA and claimed the CME title in 2018. Her first LPGA victory came at the age of 16, and her greatest at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, now known as the Chevron. She will return to Tiburon Golf Club next month for the Grant Thornton Invitational, where she’ll play alongside Rickie Fowler.

Thompson’s peers frequently praise her commitment to sponsors and fans, noting that she rarely missed a pro-am party and sent hand-written notes to pro-am partners.

“I’ll remember everything,” said Thompson of an LPGA career that spanned 13 full seasons and proved unforgettable.

Check out some photos of Lexi’s final round at the 2024 CME.

Two-tee start costs Lexi Thompson the chance to embrace fans on 18th green in what could be final CME

Thompson claimed the CME title in 2018.

NAPLES, Fla. – After three days of playing in twosomes off the first tee at the CME Group Tour Championship, the field of 60 will play the final round in threesomes off Nos. 1 and 10.

That means Lexi Thompson, who currently sits in a share of 29th at 4 under, will be going off No. 10 at 8:50 a.m in what could be her final appearance at the CME. Thompson announced at the U.S. Women’s Open that 2024 would be her final full season on the LPGA and it will be difficult to qualify on limited starts.

“Pretty sad when you’re at -4 in the season-ending event, which could easily be the last CME of your career and you won’t even finish on #18 because they decide to double the tee on the final day due to TV coverage window,” Thompson wrote in an Instagram story.

“Bummed I won’t be able to embrace all the incredible fans on 18 tomorrow as I finish. Hopefully some will be out there on #9.”

CME Group Tour Championship: Leaderboard | Photos

https://x.com/nuclrgolf/status/1860458535148023985?s=46

Thompson, 29, is an 11-time winner on the LPGA and claimed the CME title in 2018. Live TV coverage of the final round is scheduled from 1-4 p.m. ET on NBC.

Thompson will return to Tiburon Golf Club next month for the Grant Thornton Invitational, where she’ll play alongside Rickie Fowler.

CME Group Tour Championship’s $4 million winner’s prize both historic, life-changing on LPGA

Imagine what that kind of many can do.

NAPLES, Fla. — Before Angel Yin took any questions from the press on Thursday at the CME Group Tour Championship, she had her manager run to get her shades. Yin has an endorsement with a South Korean sunglasses company and wanted to make sure they were in the camera shot.

For a while, sponsorships were hard to come by for the always-entertaining Yin. She’d gone four years without a logo, and while she felt desperate about it at times, made the best of the situation. When Yin won the Aon Risk Reward Challenge at the end of 2023, she took home a $1 million bonus check.

This week, she could leave Naples with a record $4 million winner’s prize.

“It got my freedom,” said Yin of how last year’s seven-figure check changed her life. “Allowed me to hire people that I want, add more members to my team this year.”

Yin opened with a 7-under 65 at Tiburon Golf Club to trail leader Narin An by one stroke. LPGA Hall of Fame member Lydia Ko holds a share of fifth after an opening 67. No. 1 Nelly Korda, who won her seventh title last week, opened with an even-par 72.

Bailey Tardy remembers earning $30,000 for winning on the Epson Tour three years ago and thinking, “Wow, I’m set.”

“Then you kind of see how quickly the money depletes when you’re traveling on the road so much,” she said.

Bailey Tardy of the United States is presented the Rolex First Time Winner’s Award during the 2024 LPGA Rolex Players Awards at Tiburon Golf Club on November 20, 2024 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Fast forward to January 2024 when Tardy bought a house.

“I’d never had rent more than $1,000,” she said. “My mortgage is like $2,000 and I was really stressed about – not how I was going to pay for it – but managing my money on the road and then also being able to pay for my mortgage.”

Winning in March of this year took care of that when she earned $330,000 at the Blue Bay LPGA. She set aside her mortgage and utilities for the year and felt the financial stress lift away.

More money than three of the men’s majors

Imagine then, what $4 million could do. The runner-up this week earns $1 million and last place is guaranteed $55,000 of the $11 million purse.

“This $4 million prize is bigger than three out of the four men’s majors,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, “and it’s what our players deserve. We’re super proud that we’re here.”

Lexi Thompson’s first big check came early. She was only 16 when she won the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic and the $195,000 winner’s prize. Thompson bought a black Camaro SS with custom body kit, billet grille and chrome rims.

“I actually still have it,” said Thompson. “My mom drives it.”

Andrea Lee’s biggest career check came earlier this year at the U.S. Women’s Open when she finished in a share of third and earned $664,778.

Lee, who still lives at home with her parents, describes herself as a saver.

“I think my parents have instilled that in me,” said Lee, who’s putting away for retirement. I won’t be playing my entire life, maybe 10 more years or so.

“Money is not going to always come my way, gotta save up as much as I can.”

‘Exciting to me to give away that $4 million’

CME Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy has been at the forefront of LPGA growth for some time, pushing prize funds into unprecedented territory.

On Wednesday, the LPGA and CME announced an extension of the CME Group Tour Championship and the season-long Race to the CME Globe through 2027.

“It’s exciting to me to give away that $4 million,” said Duffy, “and I hope I‘m turning on the TV in a few years and someone is giving them $10 million.”

As Lexi Thompson nears retirement after CME, she’ll miss this most about life on LPGA

“To see the smile on fan’s faces and the impact, that means more to me than anything.”

NAPLES, Fla. — Lexi Thompson packed all the essentials for her final chapter as a full-time member on the LPGA Tour.

Clubs. Balls. Tees.

And plenty of shoes and gloves.

“I have my usual gloves and shoes to be signed for all the fans,” she said. “I’ll be giving out some shoes. I don’t have that many anymore. I’ve given out so many.”

The tradition started about 15 years ago, when Thompson was a teenage prodigy. Then she started seeing pictures of little girls holding up her shoes. Now, those pictures are on her desk at home.

“To see the smile on fan’s faces and the impact, that means more to me than anything,” Thompson said.

Ready to enjoy and lead a ‘more normal life’

A flood of emotions will come over Thompson on Sunday as she walks down the 18th fairway at Tiburon Golf Club. There will be other Sundays, but not nearly as many as she plans on playing only a few events each year.

But as far as going through the grind of about 20 competitive events and other obligations each year, and traveling around the world to play golf tournaments, those days are over.

Thompson, 29, is retiring from full-time golf. Although she will not be joining the early-bird and pickleball crowd as a full-fledged South Florida retiree, she is looking forward to a much more relaxed schedule. She will be living “more of a normal life,” one that will include spending more time on her business, Lexi Fitness, traveling for pleasure and picking up another hobby or two.

“I am just going to embrace the week,” said Thompson, who made the announcement in May. “After the announcement it was an emotional few weeks not really knowing what to expect with the reaction from everybody, but it’s been incredible.”

And it’s fitting one of the most popular and influential golfers ends her official season at the CME Group Tour Championship (she will be teaming with Rickie Fowler at the Grant Thornton Invitational next month at Tiburon), after not qualifying for the event for the first time last year. She is in the field this week by virtue of finishing 50th on the points list.

Thompson missed four straight cuts during a six-week stretch starting in April but rebounded with three consecutive top 10s, including runner-up at the Meijer LPGA Classic. She has not won on the LPGA in nearly five years, her last victory at the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic.

But her favorite memories since deciding golf would no longer be the focus of her life were not about one shot, one hole, one tournament.

But the notes. The signs.

And the smiles.

“Just the amount of love from the fans and everybody that has supported me throughout my career, whether it’s messages through Instagram or notes or signs that people make or give to me at the end of my round,” she said. “It puts me in tears because that’s why I played the game. I wanted to make an impact on the sport.”

She has … beyond breaking glass ceilings along the way.

Lexi Thompson won 11 times on LPGA Tour, 15 times world wide

Thompson is an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, including one major at the 2014 Chevron Championship. She has won 15 times world wide. She is a two-time Olympian, a seven-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member.

In 2007, at the age of 12, Thompson became the youngest ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. At age 16, she won the Navistar LPGA Classic, becoming the youngest champion on the LPGA Tour.

Both records since have been broken.

In October of 2023, Thompson became the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas. She was the second woman to break 70 in a PGA Tour event, shooting a 69 in the second round. Her 36-hole total of even par missed the cut by three shots.

And with nearly $15 million in prize money, Thompson is ninth on the all-time LPGA money list.

But as much as any golfer, she has connected with and inspired young girls and boys. And she has been open about her mental health struggles.

“Seeing the smiles on their faces,” she said about the kids. “Whatever it is that I was a role model, that’s meant more than anything.”

That’s what she will miss the most. And stopping to greet every smiling little girl and boy, making their days a little more special by handing over a pair of her shoes.

“I love doing it,” she said. “I wanted to leave the game in a better place and have that impact. This week is always great because so many kids come out to watch. I’m really hoping to see a ton over the weekend and give out some shoes and just see the smiles and the happiness that they have to just be out here.”

‘It’s gotten worse’: Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson blast LPGA’s slow play problem

“Just be ready when it’s your turn.”

NAPLES, Fla. — Nelly Korda plays so fast there are times that her caddie, Jason McDede, has to slow her down. There are many things to admire about the No. 1 player in the world, and the speed with which she plays the game hovers near the top of the list.

“I just always say, your first instinct is your best instinct,” said Korda, who’s fresh off her seventh victory of the season. “Just be ready when it’s your turn.”

The topic of slow play is nothing new, of course, but Lexi Thompson thinks the LPGA is only getting slower.

“I don’t really know why it’s gotten worse,” said Thompson, “but it has unfortunately.”

Korda and Charley Hull were part of a third round that finished in the dark on Saturday last week at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. Two of the fastest players on tour were forced to suffer through a round that took five hours and 38 minutes. The tour went 51 minutes over its allotted TV window. In this case, Golf Channel extended coverage.

Nichols: Slow play continues to be a black eye for the LPGA. It’s time to shrink the field at The Annika

“I personally think it’s a pretty big issue,” said Korda. “I think it’s not good for the fans that come out and watch us. If it was me personally, I would be very, very annoyed watching for five hours, over five hours, five hours and 40 minutes, close to six. I just think it really drags the game down.

“I think that it really, really needs to change.”

When asked about slow play after The Annika, Hull offered a rather extreme answer to the problem, calling for repeat offenders to lose their tour cards. Korda shared a video of Hull’s comments on social media, as did PGA Tour player Max Homa.

“I’m quite ruthless,” said Hull, “but I said, listen, if you get three bad timings, every time it’s a two-shot penalty, if you have three of them you lose your tour card instantly. I’m sure that would hurry a lot of people up and they won’t want to lose their tour card.

“That would kill the slow play, but they would never do that.”

2024 The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican — Charley Hull of England and Nelly Korda of the United States prepare to play the first hole during the final round of The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican 2024 at Pelican Golf Club on November 17, 2024 in Belleair, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

After playing the weekend together at Pelican, Korda and Hull played a practice round on Tuesday at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples. Not surprisingly, the topic of slow play came up again, likely during a long wait.

“She was talking and it’s like either a 5 or a 6, like you got two options,” said Korda. “It’s either wind is off your right or wind is off your left, wind is into, wind is down. You can’t – it’s just people just try to overcomplicate it.”

Korda echoes the thoughts of many when she says that the tour needs more rules officials. She’d like to see officials out with the first group, ready to prod. She’d also like to see more penalties given out.

“To be standing over a putt for two to three minutes, that’s ridiculous,” said Korda. “When a group in front of me is on the green and I’m in the fairway, I’m already getting ready. I’m getting my numbers ready, talking about the shot, so by the time it’s my turn, I already have my game plan. … People start their process a little too late and they stand over it too long.”

Thompson called Hull’s slow-play solution “aggressive” but said she didn’t disagree, noting rounds should never take more than four and a half hours.

“Something has to be done to quicken up the play out there,” said Thompson.

The tour’s most popular players have had enough.

Solheim Cup champs Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, Rose Zhang headline field at Kroger Queen City Championship as LPGA returns

Fresh off the 2024 Solheim Cup, the LPGA is right back at it this week.

There will be 11 players competing in the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G in Maineville, Ohio, outside Cincinnati.

Three of those – Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang – are from the winning American side, set to play just five days after hoisting the trophy.

“Gosh, it was such an unbelievable and crazy week,” Korda said. “It was just overall so much fun with our caddies, with the assistants, Stacy, the helpers, with the girls, too. That was my fourth Solheim Cup, and obviously it was sweeter to get the victory at the end of the week, but also such an amazing week with the girls.”

But now it’s back to LPGA competition where she’ll be battling her American teammates.

“Just hate all the girls again,” she quipped, which brought laughs to media center. “Coming out here and competing, doing what I love just gives me a little bit more energy boost.”

The eight Europeans in the field are Linn Grant, Georgia Hall, Esther Henseleit, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, Anna Nordqvist, Madelene Sagstrom and Albane Valenzuela.

This is the third playing of the event but the first time that the Arnold Palmer-designed TPC River’s Bend is the host course following two years at Kenwood Country Club. It’s just the third time the LPGA has played a tournament at a TPC venue. Just last month, the inaugural FM Championship was at TPC Boston. The 2023 Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown was at TPC Harding Park.

Minjee Lee is the defending champion this week. She took down Charley Hull on the second playoff hole a year ago.

There are four sponsor exemptions in the event: Amari Avery, Gianna Clemente, Gabrielle Woods (who won the Div. II individual NCAA championship last season playing for Findlay) and Yana Wilson, a former No. 1-ranked player in the Rolex AJGA Rankings.

The Kroger is the first of the remaining nine events on the LPGA’s 2024 schedule.

Players weigh in on Lexi Thompson’s Solheim Cup legacy, and the ‘massive void’ she’ll leave behind

“She’s going to do whatever it takes to win, and I wish I had 12 of them.”

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Judy Rankin says Lexi Thompson is as patriotic as anybody that’s ever played. Stacy Lewis believes Thompson’s legacy in the game is the Solheim Cup. On the eve of what could be Thompson’s final appearance wearing the red, white and blue, there could be no better place to consider what the 29-year-old has meant to American golf.

“I think we all as players owe her a lot,” said Ireland’s Leona Maguire, who first played against Thompson at the 2009 Junior Solheim Cup. “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.”

Thompson announced earlier this season at the U.S. Women’s Open that this would be her final full season on the LPGA. She hasn’t used the word retirement. While no one would be surprised to see her tee it up in select events in 2025, it’s difficult to believe that she’d play enough to merit a spot on the 2026 U.S. Solheim team.

“It’s a massive void,” said Lewis. “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.”

Thompson, who was one of three captain’s picks this year for Lewis, is making her seventh Solheim Cup appearance at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, with her first coming in 2013. She boasts an overall record of 9-7-7. Last year in Spain, Thompson played her way onto Lewis’ team despite playing some of the worst golf of her career. She turned it around in time for the competition, however, and Lewis sent her out in the first match.

Thompson went 3-1-0 for the week.

“She plays better golf here,” Lewis explained.

Lexi Thompson of Team United States signs autographs for fans prior to the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 12, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Coming into a Solheim Cup year, playing for Team USA is always Thompson’s No. 1 goal. While she was emotional last month at the Old Course at St. Andrews, where she likely played in her final AIG Women’s British Open and potentially her final major, Thompson hasn’t let herself go there so far this week.

“This is my favorite event that I’ve ever played in my career,” she said, “so enjoying the fans out there, signing the autographs, hearing the slow chants out there right now building up … just enjoying every step along the way.”

Winning, of course, would go a long way toward that enjoyment. Team USA hasn’t won this event since 2017. Thompson is one of only two players on Lewis’ team who know what it feels like to win a Solheim Cup. Alison Lee was also part of that stirring comeback in 2015 in Germany.

“That’s the one thing we have going against us,” said Lewis, “but at some point they’re going to win one, and at some point they’re going to get over the hump, just the odds of it.”

Solheim Cup: Scoreboard, teams | Photos

That’s one of the reasons Lewis brought assistant captains Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome into the fold this year, to add more confidence and experience to the team room.

Thompson’s career, at both the Solheim and beyond, has had more controversy and difficulty than most. There have been times, Rankin believes, when Thompson could’ve chosen an easier road for herself.

At last year’s cup, for example, Thompson shanked a shot on the 18th hole late on Friday, which ultimately helped shift the momentum toward Europe heading into the weekend. When asked about the miscue during a press conference, Thompson said curtly, “I don’t need to comment on that.”

The reaction created a stir amongst the media and on social media. Rankin believes that was the wrong approach.

“I just think there’s not a whole lot of reason to laugh at yourself in this game,” said Rankin. “And I think had she laughed at herself when she made some of these mistakes a few times, it would’ve been easier on her.”

Lexi Thompson of Team USA reacts before the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on September 11, 2024 in Gainesville, Virginia. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Few players on the modern tour have the kind of experience Thompson boasts, though she’s not yet 30. A winner on tour at age 16, even older players like Ally Ewing, who has been pegged the team’s “mama bear” this week, look up to the former phenom.

Thompson isn’t a big speechmaker. She leads with good energy and a strong work ethic. Lewis said she could pair the 11-time winner with anyone on the team and she’d be fine.

“She was testing a golf ball the other day that was going like 7 or 8 yards shorter with the wedge,” said Lewis. “She’s like, it’s OK, I’m just going to get my numbers, it’s good. Where anybody else would just be freaking out that a wedge is going that much shorter, she’s like, it’s fine. I’ll just get my numbers.

“She’s that kind of person. She’s going to do whatever it takes to win, and I wish I had 12 of them.”

The Match: Looking back at all nine made-for-TV golf matches

Which version of The Match was your favorite?

It’s been nearly six years since the first edition of The Match, the made-for-TV series of silly season golf events featuring everyone from PGA Tour legends to current NFL and NBA all-stars.

In that time, golf fans have been treated to seven different matches, most recently the first to be played using a mixed-team format.

Even though the first edition of The Match – Woods vs. Phil Mickelson in November 2018 in Las Vegas – didn’t quite live up to the hype, it proved there was a market for the competition. Over the years the matches have grown into charitable causes benefitting COVID-19 relief and HBCU’s while still providing golf fans a unique product outside of 72-hole stroke-play tournaments.

LPGA’s 2024 Dana Open set to celebrate ‘Lexi Thompson Day’ with F-16 flyovers

Friday is going to be fun.

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.

Lexi Thompson of the United States looks on while playing the 14th hole during the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on June 21, 2024 in Sammamish, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

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).

Lexi Thompson skipping Amundi Evian Championship, an LPGA major, once again

Thompson hasn’t been back since posting critical comments of the course on Instagram in 2019.

Lexi Thompson won’t be in the field at this year’s Amundi Evian Championship. Given that her last appearance in the event was 2019 (the 2020 Evian was canceled due to the pandemic), her absence isn’t all that surprising.

After announcing at the U.S. Women’s Open that 2024 would be her final full season on tour, she has since posted three top-10 finishes.

At the Meijer LPGA Classic, she lost in a playoff to Lilia Vu. At the recent KPMG Women’s PGA, Thompson trailed by three entering the final round at Sahalee Country Club. A shocking front-nine 43 on Sunday dropped her out of the mix, but she came home in 31 to salvage a top-10 finish that gets her an invitation back to the KPMG next year, should she want it.

“It was just a tale of two nines,” said Thompson, who was still fairly upbeat after the rollercoaster round.

PHOTOS: Lexi Thompson through the years

At the Dow Championship, Thompson teamed up with Brooke Henderson to take a share of eighth. After two weeks off, she’ll tee it up next at the Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio.

As for the Evian, Thompson has contended several times in the event but hasn’t been back since posting critical comments of the course on Instagram in 2019, essentially saying that good shots weren’t rewarded.

“I’m actually thankful that I don’t have to put myself through that for another two days,” she wrote after missing the cut. “You’re a beautiful place Evian but that’s just too many bad breaks with good shots for me, so bye.”

Thompson removed the original post later in the day, saying that she wanted to clear up any confusion. The new post read, in part:

“My words were only directed at my frustration of not playing well in a major and at the unfortunate bounces we all get while playing this crazy game of golf. I didn’t mean it in a mean way at all. Obviously just hasn’t been the course for me the last few years, but some girls are playing great and I wish them the best of luck this weekend.”

She hasn’t been back since.

Thompson will be in the fifth and final major of the season, the AIG Women’s British Open, held Aug. 22-25 at the Old Course at St. Andrews.