Lexi Thompson is not a full-time professional golfer anymore. No matter how many times fans hear it, they still can’t believe the beloved star has stepped away from the sport. The CME Group Tour Championship 2024 was the last time fans witnessed Thompson as a full-time player.

However, the 29-year-old did not back out of her commitments to the end-of-the-year tournaments. So her participation at the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational is something to celebrate. However, that didn’t stop a journalist from asking her a question every fan would probably want to ask her.

Lexi Thompson was asked, “I feel like we talk about this every week. This is the last one. How are you feeling?” Addressing the media at the pre-tournament press conference, she responded, ” It’s just great to be back here this week. I did say just from a full-time schedule.” Thompson further added, “Just going to take that time for myself, spend it with my family and friends and
really just decompress and make sure that if or when I do decide to play, that I’m ready and I’m in a good mind space. Yeah, we’ll see. I’m going to take it day by day.”

Thompson had previously stated that she was feeling “lonely” due to the situation in the LPGA Tour and the negative media attention she was receiving. She also mentioned how she will play tournaments next year once she is in the right mindset. So it’s great to see that Thompson is progressing towards that goal. Hopefully, fans will get to Thompson play often next year as long as she is happy and healthy.

Having said that, what can Thompson expect at the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational? Let’s look at the field size and defending champions to understand the challenges she may face.

Tough challenges for Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler

Going into the tournament, Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler will be especially wary of the threat Lydia Ko & Jason Day impose. Having already had a taste of victory last year, Ko & Day will be eager to retain the Grant Thornton Invitational title and add their name to the history books as back-to-back winners. Furthermore, the dangerous combination of Nelly Korda‘s precision and Tony Finau’s power may surprise everyone involved. Korda & Finau recorded the lowest score on course last year and they would be looking to replicate something similar for all three rounds of the tournament in 2024.

With Atthaya Thitikul coming off a fresh win at the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship, she too will offer an exciting challenge in the tournament. Especially considering the fact that she won the CME Group title at the very same course where the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational is being held. Plus, she will be joined by Tom Kim, who showed an impressive display of strokeplay against Scottie Scheffler at the 2024 Hero World Tour Challenge. Both in-form players will be one of the crowd favorites to win the 2024 Grant Thornton Invitational.

Do you think the team of Lexi Thompson & Rickie Fowler will be able to overcome the challenges and gain victory at the Grant Thornton Invitational this weekend? Share your views in the comments section.