Smylie Kaufman reacts to Lexi Thompson losing what could be her final singles match at the Solheim Cup

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While Stacy Lewis would have been quite happy if Lexi Thompson’s match with Celine Boutier had had no impact on who won the Solheim Cup, the USA captain must have wondered whether Europe’s fightback on Sunday was going to set the perfect stage for the 29-year-old to be the one to clinch the trophy.

Of course, Lexi Thompson announced earlier this year that she intends to retire from full-time golf at the end of the season, so there is a very good chance that she was playing her final match in the Solheim Cup. And for some time, it appeared that she was on course to secure an important point for her side.

The USA led 10-6 heading into the singles. But any notion that Sunday was going to be a precession for the home side was swiftly dismissed, with Charley Hull beating Nelly Korda while Georgia Hall won her point against Alison Lee.

Thompson had been three up over Boutier after the 11th hole, but the Frenchwoman produced a masterclass to tie things up on the 15th. Despite the momentum being with the 2023 Evian champion, Thompson managed to ensure that the match remained all square heading down the 18th.

Lexi Thompson denied dream ending to Solheim Cup career

With the US on 13.5 points at the time, there was a possibility that Thompson could win the point which would win the cup for her team. And she kept her hopes of making birdie alive with an approach from the right rough that held onto the green and rolled to within 15 feet of the hole.

Boutier however, produced a wonderful approach to knock it much closer. And ultimately, it was the 30-year-old who made her birdie as Thompson failed to trouble the hole. Lewis could not even watch Thompson’s putt as the US found themselves on the brink of victory.

Thompson is definitely going to be remembered as one of the greats of this era, but there may also be a sense that she did not manage to realise her full potential at her peak. And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman suggested that it was unfortunately apt that Thompson was not quite the one to win the cup for the US.

“It just seems a lot like how her career’s gone. We’re waiting for that storybook moment with Lex, it just always, something went wrong. And that’s not to say that she’s not one of the all-time great women’s players, because she has been, it just seems that that has been something that has continually happened with her down the stretch in these big moments,” he said.

“It was definitely much more of what you were talking about, [Boutier] did make five of seven birdies and sometimes you can’t help that when other people go out and beat you. Because I watched her play the front nine where she’s making every single putt, she was doing everything you needed to do to win.

“And yeah, I was hoping that she would have her storybook ending with winning her match, winning on the United States side. So I don’t know if she’ll ever get another bat, being on another team or not, I think I was hearing on the broadcast that this would be her last one.”

So much achieved – and perhaps there is still more to come

Thompson has been such an important figure in American teams for over a decade now, winning 10 and halving seven of her 27 matches in the Solheim Cup. There is an argument that that is not good enough for a player with her ability.

But there are so many potential superstars across various sports who go nowhere near achieving a fraction of what Thompson has managed during her career, with her major title coming before she had even turned 20.

And it would be absolutely no surprise if the final chapter detailing Thompson’s career in the Solheim Cup was still to be written. Some think Thompson could return to golf in the future; she is definitely young enough and good enough to do so.

So perhaps the fact that she did not hole the winning putt at this year’s Solheim Cup does not mean that that opportunity will not come Thompson’s way again in the future.