Bob Flynn
Thompson’s Presence will be missed at Solheim Cup
A previously unpublished story from covering the 2024 Solheim Cup.
Standing on the 18 th tee at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on a warm Sunday afternoon in mid-September two years ago, Lexi Thompson was facing history.
A few months earlier, she had announced 2024 would be her last year playing a full schedule on
the LPGA Tour. Since bursting onto the scene in the U.S. Women’s Open in 2007 at the age of 12, Thompson has accomplished just about everything she could in the sport. She has 11 LPGA Tour wins, including one major, is a two-time Olympian, is the youngest to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, is the youngest American in Solheim Cup history, has amassed thousands of fans
and has become one of the tour’s most popular players, if not the face of the LPGA.
Now, she was a couple of swings and 406 yards from delivering the clinching point in the Solheim Cup, a biennial competition between the best American players on the LPGA Tour and the best Europeans on the Ladies European Tour. Her match with France’s Celine Boutier was tied, and the U.S. had 13½ points, needing one more to win the cup for the first time since 2017. A victory by Thompson on No.18 would do just that, and surely much of the large pro-U.S. gallery that had swarmed the course 35 miles west of the nation’s capital was rooting for just such a scenario.
While Solheim Cup history is filled with storybook endings, there wasn’t one this time as Boutier won the hole and the match with a birdie, although the U.S. won the trophy 20 minutes later.
But Thompson’s loss did nothing to diminish her legacy in this prestigious event.
At a pre-tournament press conference in 2024, a reporter asked Angela Stanford, one of the vice captains for the U.S. team, if this, in fact, is Thompson’s final Solheim Cup as a player, what is her legacy?
“How am I going to answer that in all the ways I can answer it?” she said.
Stanford made six Solheim Cups as a player (two with Thompson), was a vice captain three times (all with Thompson on the team) and is the U.S. captain for this year’s event, which is Sept. 11-13 at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.
“I got to watch her group, and I just kind of caught myself like, wow,” Stanford said. “How do you replace Lexi? I don’t want this to be her last one. How do you replace, not just the way she plays, but the way she interacts with fans?”
Stanford had to drag Thompson to the first tee for a practice round because Thompson was signing autographs and interacting with the gallery.
“She won’t say no,” Stanford said. “I just think the way she goes about her business and the way
she enjoys the fans and the way she wears red, white, and blue; it’s been awesome and I’m very
grateful that I got to be a part of it, got to watch it. She’s taken us to that next level.”
Thompson’s seven Solheim Cup appearances as a player tie her with Paula Creamer and Rosie Jones for fifth on the list by an American. Julie Inkster and Cristie Kerr lead with nine each, and Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon made eight appearances. Thompson has been on three winning teams (2015, ’17, ’24) and her overall match record is 10-10-7.
“It’s been very important to me,” Thompson said of the event. “Some of my best memories are at Solheim Cup. It’s important to represent my country. I did it as a junior and amateur at Junior Solheim. To tee it up and represent my country alongside my teammates, there’s nothing like it.”
However, it’s more than that. Her teammates and captains have been women she has looked up to her entire career.
“To be alongside these amazing women that have the same dream, it’s pretty amazing to be a part of, and I’m just grateful for that,” she said.
Stacy Lewis’ connection to the Solheim Cup is almost as long as Stanford’s: four player appearances, vice captain in 2021 and captain in 2023 and 2024.
“Her legacy (in the Solheim Cup) is just the way she is with the crowd and the fans. This event is Lexi to a T,” Lewis said.
Thompson wasn’t selected to play in the Friday morning foursomes two years ago but was on the first tee for the opening match.
“I wouldn’t miss this first tee for anything, even if I’m not playing. I want to be here to support my teammates,” she said.
At the trophy presentation following Sunday’s singles play, Lewis passed the trophy to Thompson first.
“She deserved that moment,” Lewis said. “She was one of those first players to really get that first tee going loud and going crazy, and I think the Solheim Cup is what it is because Lexi started that, and she started with that energy.”
Lewis added her favorite memories of Thompson all are from the Solheim Cup.
“I’m just super proud of her,” Lewis said. “She’s been a leader of this team for a long time. On and off (the course), she leads by the way she prepares and the way she goes about her business. Who knows, maybe she’ll make another one.”
Despite a limited schedule the past two years, Thompson was 16 th in the points standings this year. But, she wasn’t an automatic qualifier and wasn’t a captain’s pick.
If her Solheim Cup playing career is over, she’d like to be a part of the team any way she can.
“I know how special it’s been to me and how many memories and relationships and friendships I’ve made throughout the Solheim Cup,” said Thompson, who married Max Provost in March and recently announced they are expecting their first child. “So, I’d love to be a part of it.”
Thompson’s absence as a player on the Solheim Cup team leaves “a massive void,” Lewis said. She thinks Thompson will be back in some form.
“They need to get her on as an assistant, that’s all I can say,” Lewis said. “Lexi needs to be there in the team room. She needs to be around these girls. She’s just great energy to have around.”