Lexi Thompson joins Michelle Wie West, legends to play PGA Tour event at Shriner’s Children’s Open
Thompson will be the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event as she is headed to Vegas to tee it up in the Shriners Children’s Open.
One of the biggest names on the LPGA Tour, Lexi Thompson, will take the boys on and make a PGA Tour appearance. She will become the seventh woman in history to start on the male professional tour as Thompson is in the field for the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old accepted a sponsor invitation to the Oct. 12-15 event, per ESPN.
“We are thrilled to welcome Lexi to the 2023 tournament,” said Patrick Lindsey, Executive Director of the Shriners Children’s Open. “We are eager to have Lexi on the course and continue to break through barriers.”
Lexi will be teeing it up on the @PGATOUR!
— LPGA (@LPGA) October 4, 2023
11x LPGA Tour winner Lexi Thompson has received an unrestricted sponsor exemption into the Shriners Children's Open next week! pic.twitter.com/2QJ8Azar4E
Thompson is no stranger to making history. She was the youngest player to ever qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at 12 in 2007. She was also the youngest to ever win on the LPGA Tour in 2011 at 16 when she took home the Navistar LPGA Classic title.
The 11-time LPGA winner is coming off a 3-1-0 performance at the Solheim Cup, where the Americans tied Team Europe 14-14. However, due to the tiebreaker rule, the Europeans retained the Cup.
“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. “I’m grateful to Shriners Children’s for this opportunity to spend the week alongside these inspirational kids.”
She is joining six other iconic women who have taken on the challenge of playing a PGA Tour event. Brittany Lincicome was the last woman to play with the guys in 2018 at the Barbasol Championship. Michelle Wie West did it 10 years before that in 2008 at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open. She played in eight PGA Tour events.
The other women who have gotten PGA Tour starts include Suzy Whaley, Annika Sorenstam, Shirley Spork and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.