In May 2024, Lexi Thompson shook the golf world at the U.S. Women’s Open by announcing her departure from the LPGA’s full-time schedule. The world thought it was witnessing the final chapter of the 11-time LPGA winner. Fast forward a year, and Thompson actually teed it up 13 times in 2025. This lingering presence confused everyone and sparked harsh criticism about her “retirement” decision. It shouldn’t have happened, and PGA Tour pro Max Homa recently stepped up to defend Thompson’s choice, appearing on the We Need a Fourth podcast.

“Lexi Thompson got a lot of grief last year for retiring. She’s 29. It’s like a half retirement. And everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it must be nice to retire when you’re 29.’ I’m like, ‘Well, if you’re just using my age…  I’ve been doing this seriously since I was 10. So, 24 years at a company is a pretty good run before you get sick of it,” Homa told everyone. “You don’t know that they’ve been doing this seriously since college, but it’s not like they just picked it up when they were 18… We’ve been doing this a long time.”

Homa’s ‘corporate years’ theory is actually spot-on when looking at Thompson’s actual timeline. Lexi qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 12 in 2007 and turned professional in 2010 at just 15 years old. Lexi even won her first LPGA event at 16, which means she had endured the pressure cooker for nearly 18 years before that semi-retirement announcement last season. But despite Max’s logic, the ‘retirement’ confusion annoyed many peers.

LPGA veteran Mel Reid openly criticized the handling of the announcement. Reid argued, “If you’re not going to play a full schedule, just don’t,” as she felt the big press conference created a messy and confusing narrative for the fans, and it sparked headlines asking, ‘Wait, didn’t Lexi Thompson retire?’ every time she played. And this criticism even forced Lexi to defend herself multiple times.

She took to Instagram to clarify her stance to fans, writing, “I’m not sure how many times I’ll have to repeat this… I never used the word retire; I said not a full-time schedule because I’m not sure how much I will play. Just taking it one at a time. That’s why I’m still playing the tournaments.” She also admitted that she simply reached a point where she needed to move away from the grind of a full-time schedule and wanted freedom, not a complete exit from the game she loves.

And once the noise settled down, the one-time major winner proved that a lighter schedule might actually be the secret to her better golf.

Top Stories

Max Homa Comes Clean on Past Tensions With Justin Thomas: ‘Hated Each Other’

R&A Breaks the Open’s 90-Year-Old Tradition to Avoid Olympics Clash

‘Taken Too Early’: Phil Mickelson Honors Late Golf Great 21 Years After His Demise

Dustin Johnson to Breathe a Sigh of Relief as Declining Career May Finally Be Saved

Colin Montgomerie Drew Huge Praise for Guiding Team Europe to Victory While Battling Illness

Lexi Thompson let her clubs do the talking

Thompson finished T14 at The Chevron Championship and followed that with a solid T12 finish at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The reduced pressure allowed her to play with the freedom fans haven’t seen in years.

And the best moment came when she nearly provided a fairytale ending at the Dow Championship. Thompson paired up with Megan Khang to form the team ‘Biggie Smalls,’ and the duo shot a final-round 60 to force a thrilling playoff. They ultimately lost to Jin Hee Im, but the spark was there. And Thompson capped off her ‘semi-retired’ year at the CME Group Tour Championship. A T19 finish there showed she still belongs among the world’s elite.

And, of course, the part-time schedule came with some competitive rust too. She missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, the site of her announcement. She also failed to play the weekend at the CPKC Women’s Open. But the results mattered less than the feeling of freedom. So what’s next for the 30-year-old star?

Lexi is now looking forward to a massive 2026 off the course and plans to keep her golf schedule very light. She got engaged to Max Provost during a trip in January 2025, and the happy couple is actively planning a wedding for March 2026.