Lexi Thompson shares whether she could reverse decision to retire if she wins this year

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This year’s Solheim Cup is likely to have extra significance following the news earlier this season that Lexi Thompson plans to retire from full-time golf at the end of the year.

Lexi Thompson has been one of the most recognisable names in the women’s game for almost 15 years, having turned professional back in 2010. Her major championship debut came three years earlier, staggeringly, at the age of 12.

The 29-year-old won her only major title to date in 2014, while she has been a stalwart of American Solheim Cup teams for more than a decade, having made her debut in the event in 2013.

Thompson announced back in May that she will be retiring at the end of 2024, and it has been a tough year in the major championships with Thompson missing two cuts and finishing in a tie for 55th at St Andrews last month. She has however, registered four top 10s throughout the season.

Lexi Thompson asked if she could reverse decision to retire if she wins this year

Of course, with Thompson not even 30 years of age, there is surely plenty of time for her career to continue in the future. And speaking on Golf.com, she was asked whether a victory in the final months of the LPGA season would have any impact on her decision to step away from the game.

“It wouldn’t make a difference, as much as people would love to hear that answer that it would change my mind, but every time I tee it up, there’s still a lot more golf tournaments to be played in the rest of the year I want to win,” she said.

“If I’m teeing it up and I don’t want to win, that’s time to really shut it down. But like I said, I’m just stepping away from a full-time schedule, I might tee it up a few times next year.”

Solheim Cup may provide perfect stage to step away

There will be, at least, one more Solheim Cup to come for Thompson, with Stacy Lewis handing her a captain’s pick ahead of this month’s event at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Thompson has not always gone into the Solheim Cup in the best form, but she seems to find a way to make a big contribution, having won three points from her four matches in Spain last year.

Some feel that Thompson is highly likely to return in the future. But given that there appears to be a big question mark over when that may be, in her mind at least, a victory in the Solheim Cup may represent one of the best ways for Thompson to bow out.

And clearly, a victory in Virginia is not going to force Thompson into a dramatic rethink.