Current:Home > FinanceLexi Thompson will become seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event-LoTradeCoin
Lexi Thompson will become seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event
View Date:2025-01-13 05:46:09
It’s not entirely surprising that Lexi Thompson is the player who will become the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event. She played alongside the men in the QBE Shootout for six years and has two brothers who have held PGA Tour cards. One of the most powerful women in the game, for years Thompson has seemed like a prime candidate to land a PGA Tour sponsor exemption.
That time has come for Thompson, who will tee it up on a sponsor invite at next week’s Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas, reports Golfweek, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. The event will be played Oct. 12-15 at TPC Summerlin, which last year played 7,255 yards with a par of 71. The field of 132 will compete for a purse of $8.4 million.
That Thompson chose to seize the opportunity this season, however, might raise some eyebrows. But the good news is that her game is trending after a 3-1-0 Solheim Cup performance and her best finish of the season – a share of eighth – at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. It marked her first top-10 finish since November 2022.
"I’m hopeful that my ability to play with the men next week at the Shriners Children’s Open sends a great message to the young women that you can chase your dream regardless of how hard it is," Thompson said in a statement. "I cannot wait to come to the city of Las Vegas, and I’m grateful to Shriners Children’s for this opportunity to spend the week alongside these inspirational kids."
An 11-time winner on the LPGA, the 28-year-old Thompson has grown up on big stages since she first qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 12.
Thompson missed five cuts in a row during the summer and looked like a liability for Team USA when she made the 12-player squad based on her Rolex Ranking. But she undoubtedly found something in the month of September, and it was enough for captain Stacy Lewis to ask Thompson to hit the first tee shot in Spain and anchor her singles lineup Sunday.
"We are thrilled to welcome Lexi to the 2023 tournament," said Patrick Lindsey, Executive Director of Shriners Children’s Open. "Shriners Children’s mission is to help all children live their best life regardless of what medical challenges lay in front of them. We are eager to have Lexi on the course and continue to break through barriers, just as our more than 1.5 million patients do every day."
The history of women competing in official PGA Tour events is short but fascinating. The great Babe Zaharias, the original LPGA needle-mover who was named “Woman Athlete of the 20th Century” by the Associated Press, remains the only female to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, doing so at the 1945 Los Angeles Open.
Annika Sorenstam credits her triumphant but controversial Bank of America Colonial appearance in 2003 as the event that took her game and her drive to another level. Sorenstam missed the cut by four strokes, but that week also took her status in the sports world to a new sphere.
"I left with so much confidence and obviously I took my game to a different level," Sorenstam told Golf Channel earlier this year. "I worked so much harder and pushed myself. Being under the microscope and playing against the men, it tested every little bone in my body. I told myself if I could handle this pressure, I can handle any pressure. … It was a different me."
Michelle Wie West came astoundingly close to making the cut at age 14 when she came within a stroke at the 2004 Sony Open after a second-round 68. She’d tee it up seven more times against the men but never made the weekend.
Brittany Lincicome is the most recent woman to receive a PGA Tour sponsor exemption at the 2018 Barbasol Championship. The two-time major winner had a string of three consecutive birdies in the second round as well as a hole-out for eagle on the 17th, but it wasn’t enough to make the cut in soft conditions.
"Just being inside the ropes with the guys, hitting on the range, on the putting green, it's just a cool feeling," Lincicome said after her second-round 71. "I feel like I'm at home here. The guys just made me feel so comfortable."
veryGood! (79)
Related
- Mattel says it ‘deeply’ regrets misprint on ‘Wicked’ dolls packaging that links to porn site
- Jessica Simpson Says Her Heart Is “So Taken” With Husband Eric Johnson in Birthday Tribute
- Judge dismisses charges against Vermont deputy in upstate New York brawl and shootout
- Saints safety Marcus Maye suspended for violating NFL’s substance abuse policy
- How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
- Gas explosion and fire at highway construction site in Romania kills 4 and injures 5
- Jason Kelce Says Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Romance Rumors Are 100 Percent True
- 'Robotic' Bears quarterback Justin Fields says he hasn't been playing like himself
- Federal judge denies request to block measure revoking Arkansas casino license
- GOP state Rep. Richard Nelson withdraws from Louisiana governor’s race
Ranking
- NCT DREAM enters the 'DREAMSCAPE': Members on new album, its concept and songwriting
- GOP state Rep. Richard Nelson withdraws from Louisiana governor’s race
- Zelenskyy returns to Washington to face growing dissent among Republicans to US spending for Ukraine
- Grain spat drags Ukraine’s ties with ally Poland to lowest point since start of Russian invasion
- Rita Ora pays tribute to Liam Payne at MTV Europe Music Awards: 'He brought so much joy'
- Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigns abruptly
- Top US Air Force official in Mideast worries about possible Russia-Iran ‘cooperation and collusion’
- 11 votes separate Democratic candidates in South Carolina Senate special election
Recommendation
-
Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn is ending her retirement at age 40 to make a skiing comeback
-
Danica McKellar Reveals Teen Love Triangle With Candace Cameron Bure and Jeremy Miller
-
DJ Khaled Reveals How Playing Golf Has Helped Him Lose Weight
-
Speaker McCarthy says there’s still time to prevent a government shutdown as others look at options
-
Republican Vos reelected as Wisconsin Assembly speaker despite losing seats, fights with Trump
-
Inside a Ukrainian brigade’s battle ‘through hell’ to reclaim a village on the way to Bakhmut
-
Police arrest second teen in Vegas hit-and-run of police chief after viral video captures moment
-
These parts of California are suffering from poor air quality from wildfire smoke