‘Lexi Thompson Day’ to be celebrated with F-16 flyovers at LPGA’s Dana Open 2024, special merchandise to honor the retiring golfer

LPGA: KPMG Women
Lexi Thompson ( via USA TODAY Sports)
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Lexi Thompson declared on May 28 that she would retire from professional golf after the end of the ongoing season. As she appears at the Dana Open this week, the tournament organizers have planned a special honorary gesture for the golfer.

On Friday, when Lexi Thompson tees off at 1:02 pm in the event, a pair of F-16s will fly over the venue. The gesture will be a way to pay tribute to Thompson who’s playing her last full-time season this year. Apart from F-16s flying to commemorate Lexi Thompson’s journey, there’ll be pink ‘Lexi’ hats and ‘Thank you, Lexi’ buttons.

The tournament kicks off on Thursday, alongside the Open Championship in the men’s circuit. This year Dana Open boasts a purse of $1.75 million.

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As far as Thompson’s record at the Dana Open is concerned, her last best finish was a runner-up position in 2018. Added to that, she had six best-20 finishes at Highland Meadows Golf Club.

Lexi Thompson had an overall average season. She missed five cuts, out of which four were consecutive. Her best finish this season was at the Meijer LPGA Classic, where she finished at T2. Her last appearance was at the KPMG PGA Women’s Championship, where the LPGA star landed at T9. After that, she backed off from the Amundi Evian Championship and her next tournament would be the Dana Open.

Lexi Thompson details the reason behind her retirement
Thompson spoke in detail about the reason behind her big decision to step away from golf back in May. She highlighted how she’d like to venture to the other side of life than just playing golf and a full-time schedule.

“It’s my 14th year and I’m not going to sit here and say it hasn’t crossed my mind in past years and the past few years. But I feel like I’m at a point in my life where it is time to just step away from a full-time schedule,” Thompson said in a press conference.
She continued, “There’s more things to life than going to a tournament every week and doing the same training every day, there’s just more to it…I’m looking forward to experiencing that and I feel like I’m very content with where my life is and where this decision will lead me to. So I’m just looking forward to what life has in store other than golf.”
She also mentioned the mental health issues related to golf and admitted that partly played a role in her decision. Lexi Thompson has been playing on the LPGA Tour since 2012 and has spent more than a decade on the circuit.

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Edited by Ankush Das