Pro golfer Lexi Thompson retires at 29, citing mental health struggles

A 29-year-old participant on the ladies’s skilled golf tour has introduced her retirement, citing the pressures that include enjoying an expert sport within the public eye.

Lexi Thompson, a 12-year veteran of the LPGA, confirmed she is going to retire from skilled golf on the finish of this season in an open letter she shared on Instagram on Could 28.

“Though this has been an incredible journey, it hasn’t all the time been a simple one,” Thompson mentioned within the letter, which was shared on Instagram together with a video montage of highlights from her profession. “Since I used to be 12 years outdated, my life as a golfer has been a whirlwind of fixed consideration, scrutiny and stress. The cameras are all the time on, capturing each swing and each second on and off the golf course.”

“Social media by no means sleeps, with feedback and criticisms flooding in from around the globe,” she added. “It may be exhausting to take care of a smile on the surface whereas grappling with struggles on the within.”

Thompson made historical past when she certified for the U.S. Girls’s Open on the age of 12 in 2007, turning into the youngest particular person to ever achieve this, in response to her LPGA biography.

Over the course of her profession, Thompson grew to become an 11-time LPGA Tour winner, a significant champion, a two-time Olympian and earned over $14 million.

Thompson mentioned in her retirement video that amid her profession highs, she has discovered consolation in talking publicly about her psychological well being “battles.”

“By opening up about my very own battles, I have been capable of join with others who really feel remoted of their struggles, providing them a way of neighborhood and understanding,” she mentioned. “Every time I share, it reinforces the message that it is OK to not be OK, and that searching for assist is an indication of energy, not weak spot.”

Thompson additionally spoke concerning the position psychological well being performed in her choice to retire from skilled golf in a press convention Tuesday on the 2024 U.S. Girls’s Open, the identical match the place her profession began.

“I believe all of us have our personal [mental health] struggles, particularly out right here,” she mentioned. “Sadly in golf, you lose greater than you win, so it is an ongoing battle to proceed to place your self on the market in entrance of the cameras and persevering with to work exhausting and possibly not seeing the outcomes you need and getting criticized for it. So it is exhausting. I’ll say, sure, I’ve struggled with it. I do not assume there’s any individual out right here that hasn’t. It is only a matter of how nicely you disguise it, which could be very unhappy.”

She continued, “It is an vital factor to deal with and be okay with getting assist and getting the assist and surrounding your self with the those who assist you and love you as a result of there are all the time individuals who do care a lot about you and can show you how to get by means of these robust moments.”

Thompson’s feedback on psychological well being come simply days after the dad and mom {of professional} golfer Grayson Murray confirmed the two-time PGA Tour winner died by suicide.

“Life wasn’t all the time simple for Grayson, and though he took his personal life, we all know he rests peacefully now,” Eric and Terry Murray mentioned in a press release about their son.

Different skilled athletes have additionally spoken publicly concerning the pressures of competing within the public eye, together with gymnast Simone Biles and Los Angeles Rams backup quarterback Stetson Bennett, who just lately confirmed his time away from the workforce final season was associated to psychological well being.

Thompson mentioned that in her expertise, being an expert athlete will be “lonely.”

“Being out right here, it may be so much. It may be lonely. Sorry if I get emotional,” she mentioned Tuesday, preventing again tears. “Lots of people, they do not understand lots of what we undergo as an expert athlete … We’re doing what we love. We’re attempting our greatest each single day and we’re not good. We’re people. Phrases harm, and it is exhausting to beat typically.”

She credited a core group of individuals round her with serving to her “get by means of some actually exhausting instances.”

“I believe it is so much for everyone out right here, or in any skilled sport,” she mentioned. “Lots of people do not know what we undergo and the quantity of coaching and exhausting work that we put ourselves by means of. It is so much and I believe we deserve much more credit score than what we get.”

When you or somebody you already know are experiencing suicidal, substance use or different psychological well being crises, please name or textual content 988. You’ll attain a skilled disaster counselor without cost, 24 hours a day, seven days every week. You can even go to 988lifeline.org.