Lexi Thompson to play Shriners Children's Open on sponsor exemption

LPGA star Lexi Thompson has received a sponsor exemption to play the Shriners Children’s Open on Oct. 12-15 in Las Vegas.

Thompson, 28, is an 11-time winner on the LPGA and member of this year’s U.S. Solheim Cup team. Her brothers, Nicholas and Curtis, have both held PGA TOUR cards, as well.

“It's just a very cool opportunity for me to of course play alongside the men. That's one thing. But to leave more of a message to the little girls and boys that no dream is too big. If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,” Lexi Thompson said. “I'm very honored just to have this opportunity.”

Thompson is among the LPGA’s longest hitters, averaging 270.3 yards off the tee this season. She will be the seventh woman ever to compete in a PGA TOUR event. LPGA Tour player Babe Didrikson Zaharias became the first woman to receive a sponsor exemption at The Cascades Open in 1935. Thompson will be the first female to compete since Brittany Lincicome at the 2018 Barbasol Championship.

Lincicome, Zaharias, Michelle Wie West, Suzy Whaley, Annika Sorenstam and Shirley Spork are the other women to compete on the PGA TOUR. Thompson said she was “inspired” when players like Sorenstam, Wie and Lincicome competed on the PGA TOUR during her lifetime.

“I was inspired when they did it,” Thompson said, “going after what you want, leaving a bigger message out there that if you have a goal in mind, whether it's golf, anything in life if you put your mind to it and have a positive attitude and work towards what you want, anything is possible.”

Zaharias made two cuts in in 1945 (33rd, 1945 WM Phoenix Open; 42nd, Tucson Open) and Spork completed 72 holes at the 1952 Northern California-Reno Open.

Sorenstam competed in the 2003 Charles Schwab Challenge as the No. 1 player in the women’s game. She was coming off an 11-win season in 2002 before she played Colonial Country Club alongside Dean Wilson and Aaron Barber. Sorenstam shot 71 in the opening round to sit one shot outside the cut line. She missed the cut after a second-round 74 but said 10 years later, “It was a turning point for me. It’s one of the highlights of my career.”

West missed the cut by just a single stroke in her PGA TOUR debut at the 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii. It was the first of eight PGA TOUR starts for Wie, who went on to win five times on the LPGA, including the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open. West retired from competitive golf at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.

Thompson said this is the first offer she has had to play in a PGA TOUR event.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lexi to the 2023 tournament,” said Shriners Children’s Open executive director Patrick Lindsey in a statement. “Shriners Children’s mission is to help all children live their best life regardless of what medical challenges lay in front of them. We are eager to have Lexi on the course and continue to break through barriers, just as our more than 1.5 million patients do every day.”

The Shriners Children’s Open, the third event of the FedExCup Fall, will begin Oct. 12 at TPC Summerlin. Tom Kim is the defending champion, winning last year’s event to become the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice on TOUR before 21. This year’s 132-person field will compete for a $8.4 million purse.