GAINESVILLE, Va. — Lexi Thompson worked her way down the rope line between the second and third holes at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on Thursday, signing dozens of hats, flags and golf balls. The fans on the other side, worried they would miss their chance with the U.S. Solheim Cup team’s most popular player, began chanting, “Lexi! Lexi!”
Thompson obliged, finally informing her still-waiting supporters, “Sorry, guys, I’ve got to go hit, OK?” There was a practice round to play, after all. But then she stopped again to sign the hats of two school-age girls and the vest of a service dog.
“We’re excited for you, and we’re excited for your retirement,” one fan told Thompson. “Enjoy life.”
The Solheim Cup begins Friday at this battle-tested venue about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C., that has hosted four Presidents Cups. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
The U.S. is favored statistically, with the top two players in the world in Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu and an average world ranking of 26.75 to Europe’s 40.5. While Europe’s biggest margin of victory in the past three events was two points, it has gotten strong contributions from the likes of Carlota Ciganda (4-0 last year) and Leona Maguire (7-2-1 in the last two).
“The U.S. team, they’ve been playing better than us on paper,” Ciganda said. “But I think this week is different.”
Lewis made “Unfinished Business” her team’s motto this year, and Pettersen, too, has tweaked her approach after neither side was fully satisfied with its performance in Spain. The U.S. got off to a strong start in alternate shot, typically a strength for Europe, but was unable to maintain that advantage.
“We put a lot of emphasis last year on alternate shot, which you guys saw in the result,” Lewis said. “Looking back, was it maybe too much? Probably.”
Lewis shook things up with her foursomes pairings for Friday morning’s opening session. She announced Thursday she would send out rookies Lauren Coughlin (with Rose Zhang) and Sarah Schmelzel (with Vu) and bench Thompson, who is 9-7-7 overall in six Solheim Cups and 5-2-1 in alternate shot. Korda was tapped for the leadoff match alongside Allisen Corpuz, with Charley Hull and rookie Esther Henseleit as Europe’s opening team.
Four better-ball matches will be played Friday afternoon, with more alternate-shot and better-ball matches on Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday. Europe needs 14 points to retain the cup, while the U.S. needs 14 1/2 to win it.
Lewis said finding alternate-shot duos who use the same or similar golf balls was important - even though the brand of ball doesn’t seam to matter to Thompson.
“She’s one of those you could literally pair with anybody, and she’s like, ‘I’ll figure it out,’” Lewis said. “She was testing a golf ball the other day that was going like 7 or 8 yards shorter with the wedge. She’s like, ‘It’s OK, I’m just going to get my numbers, it’s good.’ Where anybody else would just be freaking out.”
Thompson’s career could be remembered just as much for near-misses in major championships as for her 11 LPGA victories and one major. As generous as she can be with fans and sponsors, she is in some ways a reluctant star. Guarded with the media, she declined again this week to detail her plans for the semi-retirement she announced earlier this year.
“I’m just going to take it day by day, take some time for myself, and see how I feel after that,” Thompson said.
The team format, where success isn’t measured by individual strokes and she can contribute to others’ success, brings out the best in Thompson.
“I think it is her legacy, is her and the Solheim Cup. Just the way she is with the crowd and the fans, this event is Lexi to a T. … She plays better golf here,” Lewis said. “She’s going to do whatever it takes to win, and I wish I had 12 of them.”
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