LPGA star Lexi Thompson to play in PGA Tour event

LPGA Tour star Lexi Thompson has accepted a sponsor's invite to play on the PGA Tour alongside the men at the Shriners Children's Open in Las Vegas later this month. 

Thompson, 28, will become only the seventh woman to play on the PGA Tour, and she will be competing for a prize pot of $8.4m when she tees it up at TPC Summerlin on October 12.

WATCH: TOUR PRO QUICKLY RETRACTS COMMENT ABOUT LEXI THOMPSON'S INVITE ON PGA TOUR

Off the back of a thrilling draw in the Solheim Cup at Finca Cortesin in Spain, which saw Europe retain the cup for a third successive time, the 11-time LPGA Tour winner is very excited to make her PGA Tour debut and send a positive message to female golfers around the world.

Thompson said:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Lexi Thompson (@lexi)

Thompson is the first woman to play on the PGA Tour since Brittany Lincicome played at the Barbasol Championship in 2018.

She joins esteemed company to make the switch to play on the men's circuit, following in the footsteps of Michelle Wie, Annika Sorenestam, Suzy Whaley, Shirley Spork and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

Of the six golfers who have made starts on the PGA Tour, only Zaharias managed to make the cut when she played in the Los Angeles Open in 1945.

Zaharias notably also made the cut two more times, finishing 33rd at the Phoenix Open and 42nd at the Tucson Open, both in 1945.

Having begun her career as a professional at the staggeringly young age of 15, Thompson was also the youngest ever player to qualify for a major championship when she played in the Women's US Open at only 12 years of age. Since then, Thompson has won one major championship, coming at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship

Currently ranked No 114 in the Race to the CME Globe, Thompson hasn't won on the LPGA Tour since 2019, when she was victorious at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.  

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