Three players bid farewell to full-time competition on Sunday at the CME Group Tour Championship: Lexi Thompson, Ally Ewing and Marina Alex. While Thompson and Ewing made their announcements earlier in the season, only Alex’s close circle friends and family knew this would be final season.
Alex, a two-time winner on tour, closed with a 66 to finish tied for 12th while Ewing tied for 16th. A total of 12 players now have decided to step away from full-time competition after this season.
Brittany Lincicome’s announcement three weeks ago that 2024 will be her final full season on the LPGA is just the latest in a long list of players who have made similar decisions this year.
“Winning two majors – two school-teachers raising me to be a pro golfer – and to have eight wins is remarkable,” Lincicome told Golfweek.
There will be faces Lincicome will miss on tour, but the reality is many of her peers have already retired or play sparingly these days.
Here’s a list of players who formally announced their decisions to step away from full-time golf on the LPGA in 2024:
Catriona Matthew
The most decorated Scot to ever play the LPGA said goodbye at the Old Course in her 30th and final appearance at the AIG Women’s British Open. The winningest Scot in tour history won four times on the LPGA and posted 104 top-10 finishes. She also led Europe to two stunning victories in the Solheim Cup and did the same for Great Britain and Ireland at the Curtis Cup over the summer.
Matthew’s most incredible feat as a professional, however, was winning the Women’s British Open 11 weeks after giving birth to her second child.
While the AIG was her final LPGA appearance, the “superman” will continue to play some senior golf.
So Yeon Ryu
South Korea’s Ryu, 34, played her final event on the LPGA at the Chevron Championship, an event she won in 2017. The two-time major champion spent 19 weeks as Word No. 1, which she believes to be her biggest accomplishment. Ryu didn’t realize how much she missed living in South Korea until a global pandemic forced her to move back home for nine months and she thought: This is a real life.
“I never knew it,” she said. “I never knew I could have that kind of stable life.”
Angela Stanford
Stanford kicked off 2024 with a big goal: Become the first woman to make it to 100 consecutive major championship appearances. She came up short, failing to make it past 98 when she didn’t qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open, and the USGA opted not to give her a special exemption. The 46-year-old, who has won seven times on the LPGA, including a major, will finish up her final season later this year. She joined the tour in 2001.
Mariajo Uribe
Uribe set a goal of making it to the Paris Olympics and played on the LET to get there. The Colombian made the decision that Paris would be her final event, and she flirted with winning a medal in the process.
Though the 34-year-old was in the field for the next week’s event at St. Andrews, a major, Uribe didn’t tee it up. It was back to Colombia to focus on being a stay-at-home mom.
“I’m not in a rush to find another career,” she said.
Laura Davies
Dame Laura Davies was slated to make her final LPGA appearance at the Old Course in August, but the World Golf Hall of Famer didn’t think her game was up for the task and opted not to compete. The 60-year-old had teed it up in the past 43 consecutive British Opens.
“I just don’t think I’m good enough anymore,” she explained. “It would’ve been lovely, don’t get me wrong. … I wish I could’ve just stood up and said I’ll give it a go, I don’t care how bad I am. But I do care. That’s the trouble.”
Davies won 20 times on the LPGA and more the 80 times worldwide. Though fans were denied the historic farewell, Davies will continue to compete on the senior circuit.
I.K. Kim
After 18 years of professional golf, 36-year-old I.K. Kim announced her retirement after playing one last round over the Old Course at the AIG Women’s British Open. Kim told good friend R&A Chief Martin Slumbers after the round. She’d told her parents, coaches and best friend the night before.
Media officials convinced her to come back hours after her round had concluded to talk about a career that included seven victories, including a major, and one of the most painful short misses in the game’s history at the 2012 ANA Inspiration.
“I’m most proud of the hard work that I’ve put into,” said Kim. “I wasn’t the most talented or the most gifted, but I loved the game. I was willing to travel anywhere to play golf and learn the game, and I wanted to thank all the girls here. I’ve learned so much from them.”
Amy Olson
Olson, 32, told husband Grant when they were dating that she planned to play on tour for 10 years and then wanted to focus on family. In April, Olson announced that she wouldn’t be coming back from maternity leave.
“I knew that once I had kids I wanted to be home,” Olson told Golfweek. “That was a huge desire of my heart.
Lexi Thompson
One of the most popular players on tour for more than a decade, Thompson announced earlier this year at the U.S. Women’s Open that 2024 would be her last full time season on tour. What that means going forward is unclear, but golf fans will see a lot less of the 11-time tour winner after this season. Thompson, 29, won for the first time on the LPGA at age 16.
Ally Ewing
In the midst of some of the best golf of her career, 31-year-old Ewing has decided this season will be her last. The three-time tour winner said the highlights of her career have been representing the U.S. at the Solheim Cup, which she did just two weeks ago in Virginia.
Gerina Mendoza
In July, Mendoza posted on Instagram that she was stepping away from playing full time on the LPGA. The 39-year-old got married last fall and also announced that she was due to give birth to a second child in October.
While Mendoza never won on the LPGA, the strong ball-striker represented the U.S. three times in the Solheim Cup.
Brittany Lincicome
Last week, the two-time major winner told Golfweek that 2024 would be her final full season on the LPGA. Lincicome, 39, will play her last event of the season close to home at The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican on a sponsor exemption. The mother of two said she hopes to play in a handful of events each year but will focus on her family.
“All of it is really a dream come true,” she said, “and I’ve been blessed to do it for so long.”
Marina Alex
Alex kept her retirement news under wraps and word just got out on the day of the final round. She started her CME week with a 6 under round and closed with a 6 under round. As she came up the 18th hole, she waved to crowd. After her round she celebrated with some champagne then was asked to share her thoughts.
“It’s been amazing. Emotions, but great emotions. Friends and family, you know, my childhood coaches, like my godfather who was my putting coach for the longest time, the head pro from my home club in New Jersey who also lives in Florida now,” she said. “They’ve seen the beginning and now the end. It’s kind of sweet. Teammates and friends and everyone. So it’s been great.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Marina Alex is the latest in long list of players (now 12) stepping away from LPGA in 2024
