PINE NEEDLES, N.C. – Lexi Thompson was 12 when she competed in her first U.S. Women’s Open. The championship returns to Pine Needles for the first time since that 2007 event and Thompson, now 27, will be making her 16th Open start.
“It was an amazing experience,” Thompson said Tuesday while reflecting on her debut. “I remember driving up with my parents, practicing my signature on the way, and just embracing it all.”
Thompson may have been a pre-teen 15 years ago, but that event was the impetus for her professional career. “Teeing it up here when I was 12 is the reason where I am today,” she said, “because I realized then that this is what I wanted to do.