Lexi Thompson enters what looks like her final Solheim Cup as the most popular American player among fans, a team leader and a key contributor for captain Stacy Lewis.
The Solheim Cup begins Friday at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and if it’s truly Thompson’s last as a player, she’s going out on top – at least in the eyes of American fans, teammates and captain Stacy Lewis.
There was never a doubt that Lewis would select Thompson to play in her seventh consecutive Solheim Cup.
Although the 29-year-old hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour in five years, she brings power, proficiency in the tricky alternate-shot format and – rare on this US team – memories of hoisting the trophy in the biennial team competition against Europe.
Thompson and Alison Lee are the only players on the American squad who’ve won a Solheim Cup, which the US last captured in 2017 in Iowa. Europe won in 2019 in Scotland and 2021 in Ohio and retained the cup last year with a 14-14 draw in Spain.
The event returns a year later with Lewis and European captain Suzann Pettersen reprising their roles to move back to even-numbered years and avoid the Ryder Cup.
The Solheim Cup dates to 1990, and no team has captured it four straight times. Also, neither side has won twice in a row on foreign soil.