The early retirement of Lexi Thompson has been the topic of conversation for the past few months. No one could imagine how badly she would be treated when the time finally arrived. Thompson played her last event as a full-time golfer at the Tiburón Golf Club. As per her announcement a few months ago, she was stepping down from her commitments to focus on her personal goals. And now, new information has emerged stating that the PGA Tour would have handled it much better than the LPGA.

After the first three rounds of the CME Group Tour Championship 2024 concluded, it seemed that Thompson would get a grand send-off at the 18th on November 24. However, that was not following the schedule she received from the LPGA for the final round. Taking the broadcast schedule into account, the LPGA decided to split the field between the back nine and the front nine of the 18 holes.

Unfortunately, Thompson fell under the latter half and teed off on the final day from the 10th hole. This would mean, as the tournament came to an end on the 18th that evening, Lexi Thompson was finishing up on the 9th hole. Thompson voiced her dissatisfaction regarding the decision on her Instagram story. She stated, “Pretty sad when you’re at -4 in the season-ending event, which could easily be the last CME of your career and you won’t even finish on #18 because they decide to double the tee on the final day due to TV coverage window.”

Thompson also apologized to her fans for not being able to attend them, explaining, “Bummed I won’t be able to embrace all the incredible fans on 18 tomorrow as I finish. Hopefully, some will be out there on #9.” This brought an old tweet from @@PGATOURComms to light as they shared the tee schedule for a PGA Tour event. With the caption, “Pairings and starting times for the final round of the TOUR Championship,” the post showed how the PGA Tour managed to handle the tee times despite a strict broadcast coverage schedule.

It’s a fact that Jay Monahan’s PGA Tour rarely has split tee times, even during the biggest events of the season. Despite all the negative reports about the pace of play, the PGA Tour still gives everyone involved a fair shot at showcasing their skills on live TV. Perhaps, if Lexi Thompson was a PGA Tour player, she would have received a much better sending-off as a full-time golfer than the LPGA Tour. Fortunately, this is not the last time we will see Lexi Thompson play. So, when is her next appearance on the course scheduled?

Lexi Thompson’s next golf adventure

Quoting her fellow LPGA colleague Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson is “not done yet.” Thompson is scheduled to partner up with Rickie Fowler in the Grant Thorton Invitational 2024. She will face off against the defending champions, Lydia Ko and Jason Day, world no. 1 Nelly Korda and Tony Finau, and the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship winner Atthaya Thitikul and Tom Kim.

There are a few more teams who will also be competing for the title. While Thompson has officially retired as a full-time player, winning the Grant Thorton Invitation 2024 will surely be a great end to an amazing 14-year career. You can catch all the action live from December 13–15, 2024, on the Golf Channel and NBC.