Lexi Thompson

Lexi Thompson
— Golfer —
Thompson at the 2013 Women's British Open
Personal information
Full name	Alexis Thompson
Born	(1995-02-10) February 10, 1995 Coral Springs, Florida, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Nationality	United States
Residence	Coral Springs, Florida
Career
Turned professional	2010
Current tour(s)	LPGA Tour (joined 2012)
Professional wins	5
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour	3
Ladies European Tour	1
Other	1
Best results in LPGA Major Championships
Kraft Nabisco C'ship	T21: 2009
LPGA Championship	T28: 2013
U.S. Women's Open	T10: 2010
Women's British Open	T17: 2012
The Evian Championship	3rd: 2013

Alexis "Lexi" Thompson (born February 10, 1995) is an American professional golfer. At age 12, she was the youngest golfer ever to qualify to play in the U.S. Women's Open. She turned professional in June 2010 at age 15.^[2][3] On September 18, 2011, Thompson set a new record as the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA tournament,^[4] at age 16 years, seven months, and eight days, when she won the Navistar LPGA Classic. Three months later she became the second youngest winner of a Ladies European Tour event, capturing the Dubai Ladies Masters by four strokes on December 17, 2011.^[4]

Family and education

Thompson's two brothers also are golfers: Nicholas Thompson, plays professionally on the PGA Tour^[5] and Curtis Thompson^[6] attends Louisiana State University.^[7] Alexis was home-schooled and told an interviewer in September 2012 that she had "graduated a few months ago."^[8]

Amateur career

As a 12-year-old in 2007, she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. At the tournament, she shot 86-82 and failed to make the cut.^[9] Also in 2007, she won the Aldila Junior Classic to become the second-youngest winner in AJGA. She also won the Westfield Junior PGA Championship to become the youngest winner in Junior PGA Championship history.^[10]

In 2008 she won the U.S. Girls' Junior. She qualified again in 2008 for U.S. Women's Open where she shot 75-77 and she again failed to make the cut, this time by two strokes.

As a 14-year-old in 2009, she qualified for a third time for the U.S. Women's Open and made the cut for the first time, finishing tied for 34th, +11 (71-73-78-73=295).^[11] Later that year she Monday-qualified for the Navistar LPGA Classic, where she shot 65 in the first round and finished at T27, 12 strokes behind winner, Lorena Ochoa.^[12]

In 2010 Thompson kept her amateur status for the first half of the year. As an amateur, she played in the Women's Australian Open, where she finished T16 (+3), 12 strokes behind the winner, Yani Tseng.^[13] She made the cut at the 2010 Kraft Nabisco Championship, finishing T24, +2 (74-72-73-71=290), 15 shots behind winner, Yani Tseng.^[14] She also won the 2009 Verizon Junior Heritage after a sudden-death playoff with Laetitia Beck.^[15] She represented the winning United States team in the Curtis Cup competition and went undefeated, winning four matches and tying in a fifth. She turned pro the next week, stating she believed her game was ready to make the jump to the LPGA Tour.^[16]

Amateur highlights

• 2007 second round, U.S. Girls' Junior
• 2007 quarterfinalist, U.S. Women's Amateur
• 2008 Won – U.S. Girls' Junior (final 5 & 4 over Karen Chung)
• 2009 third round, U.S. Girls' Junior
• 2009 semifinalist, U.S. Women's Amateur

Professional career

2010

Thompson announced that she had turned pro on June 16, 2010. She signed sponsorship deals with Cobra-PUMA Golf and with Red Bull.^[3][17]

Lacking official status as an LPGA Tour member, Thompson largely had to rely on sponsors' exemptions to gain entry into tournaments. Her first sponsor's exemption was entry into the ShopRite LPGA Classic where she missed the cut by four strokes.^[18]

She played qualifiers held in Florida in May to gain entry to the U.S. Women's Open played July 8–11. She finished T10 at the tournament, +6 (73-74-70-73=290), nine shots behind winner Paula Creamer and collected her first professional check for $72,131.^[19]

Two weeks later at the Evian Masters, Thompson finished T2, −13 (69-72-67-67=275), one shot behind the winner, and made $242,711.^[20] After three professional events, her earnings were $314,842, which would have ranked 18th on the official LPGA money list if she had been a member of the LPGA Tour. Her result from the Evian Masters caused her to rise 75 places to number 74 in the Women's World Golf Rankings.^[21] She played three more events on the LPGA Tour in 2010, missing the cut at the CN Canadian Women's Open, and finishing T16 and T57 in two additional events.

Petition to LPGA
In December 2010, Thompson petitioned the LPGA to allow her to play in up to 12 LPGA tournaments in 2011 using sponsor exemptions instead of the six allowed to non-members by LPGA rules. In January 2011, Commissioner Mike Whan denied Thompson's petition, but announced that the LPGA rules would be changed to allow non-members to participate in Monday qualifying. In effect this may give Thompson the opportunity to play in more than 12 tournaments in 2011.^[22]

2011

Thompson began playing in one-day tournaments on the Fuzion Minor League Golf Tour in October 2010. The Fuzion Minor League Golf Tour is a developmental tour aimed at men trying to move up to the next level of professional golf. On the Fuzion Tour, women play with tees moved up so that they play 94% of the distance that the men play.^[23] She returned to play against women in February 2011 at the Women's Australian Open and the ANZ Ladies Masters, where she missed the cut and finished T42 respectively. Returning to the United States, she won a one-round Fuzion Tour event, on February 21, at her home course in Coral Springs, Florida. Tied after 18 holes, she beat Brett Bergeron on the second playoff hole, for her first professional win.^[23] In March, Thompson attempted the Monday qualifier for the LPGA Kia Classic, but failed to qualify.^[24]

Thompson's first LPGA tournament in 2011 was the Avnet LPGA Classic, with a sponsor's exemption. After three rounds, she was tied for the lead with Song-Hee Kim. On Sunday, her score soared to 78, including back-to-back double bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes. Thompson would finish tied for 19th at −1 (71-71-67-78=287), nine strokes behind the winner, Maria Hjorth.^[25] She missed the cut at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, the LPGA Championship and at the U.S. Women's Open and tried but failed to Monday qualify at the State Farm Classic. In her fifth LPGA tournament she played in 2011, the Evian Masters, she finished tied for 36th. She continued to play regularly on the Fuzion Tour, through the spring and summer. In August, she finished T31 at the Safeway Classic and then missed the cut at the Canadian Women's Open. In September, she won her first LPGA tournament, the Navistar LPGA Classic by a five-stroke margin over LPGA Tour rookie Tiffany Joh. At age sixteen, she became the youngest winner ever on the LPGA Tour, breaking the previous record set by Marlene Hagge at age 18 in 1952.^[26] Her record stood for 11 months until 15-year-old Lydia Ko won the 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open on August 26, 2012.

On December 17, 2011, Thompson won the Dubai Ladies Masters, an event on the Ladies European Tour (LET), with a four stroke margin. This win made her the youngest professional winner on the LET at age 16 years, 10 months, 7 days. The youngest-ever winner on the LET is Amy Yang, who was four months younger when she won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters as an amateur at 16 years, 6 months, 8 days.^[27]

Qualifying for 2012 LPGA membership
Thompson successfully petitioned the LPGA to receive a waiver to the rule that LPGA Tour members must be at least 18 years old, allowing her to enter the 2011 LPGA Qualifying School for Tour membership in 2012. The first of three stages was held July 26–29, 2011 at the LPGA International course in Daytona Beach, Florida. Thompson won Stage I by 10 strokes, shooting −23 (66-66-66-67=265). The top 50 finishers and ties from the first stage advanced to Stage II.^[28] After winning the Navistar LPGA Classic, Thompson withdrew from qualifying school^[29] and petitioned the LPGA for membership based on her win. Her petition was approved on September 30, 2011, and Thompson became a member of the tour for 2012.^[30]

Professional wins (5)

LPGA Tour wins (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Sep 18, 2011	Navistar LPGA Classic	66-68-67-70=271	−17	5 strokes	Tiffany Joh
2	Oct 13, 2013	Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia	67-63-66-69=265	−19	4 strokes	Shanshan Feng
3	Nov 17, 2013	Lorena Ochoa Invitational	72-64-67-69=272	−16	1 stroke	Stacy Lewis

LET wins (1)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	Dec 17, 2011	Dubai Ladies Masters	70-66-70-67=273	−15	4 strokes	Lee-Anne Pace

Other wins (1)

2011 TPC February Shootout (Fuzion Minor League Golf Tour)

Results in LPGA majors

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
LA = Low amateur
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Professional record and earnings outside of Tour membership

Results in all tournaments in which Thompson has played since turning pro in June 2010 through the end of 2011. During this time she was a professional golfer but not a member of any golf tour.

• Dates are span of competitive rounds, regardless of whether Thompson participated in all rounds.
• Margin = strokes behind winner or cutline, not applicable in cases of withdrawal, disqualification or matchplay format.
• Earnings are rounded up to the nearest dollar.
• ¹On the Fuzion Tour, women play with tees moved up so that they play 94% of the distance that the men play.^[23]
• ² The winner's prize was 75,000 Euros. US dollar equivalent based on exchange rate current as of December 17, 2011.^[43]

LPGA Tour career summary

• Official as of November 24, 2013.^[44]

* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

¹ Earnings prior to 2012 are unofficial because Thompson was not an LPGA member.
² Official 2012 earnings do not include $23,107 from T14 finish at the Honda LPGA Thailand. LPGA rules specify that earnings by players who gain entrance to an international tournament using a sponsor's exemption are unofficial.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Junior Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 2009 (winners)
• Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 2010 (winners)

Professional

• Solheim Cup (representing the United States): 2013

Curtis Cup record

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lexi Thompson.

• Official website
• Lexi Thompson at the LPGA Tour official site
• Lexi Thompson at the Ladies European Tour official site

v t e United States Solheim Cup team – 2013 Paula Creamer Cristie Kerr Jessica Korda Brittany Lang Stacy Lewis Brittany Lincicome Gerina Piller Morgan Pressel Lizette Salas Angela Stanford Lexi Thompson Michelle Wie Meg Mallon (non-playing captain) Laura Diaz (non-playing assistant captain) Dottie Pepper (non-playing assistant captain) Lost: 10–18