Lexi Thompson has been a sensation in the golf world from before she was even a teenager. The Coral Springs, FL native became the youngest player to ever qualify for the US Women's Open in 2007 at just 12 years old. Just three years later, she turned pro at 15 years old. Now 28 years old, though, she's making more history.
Thompson, who recently represented the United States -- amid some media-based controversy -- at the Solheim Cup, was given a sponsor's exemption to play in this week's Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin on the PGA Tour. If you're thinking that's a rare feat, you'd be right.
You don't need all fingers on both hands to count the number of women who have earned the opportunity to play on the PGA Tour. But that begs the question of how the women who did get a spot in PGA Tour fields historically have fared, if any of them made the cut, and just how many women have been given such an opportunity?
Lexi Thompson is the 7th woman to compete in a PGA Tour event
Playing at the Shriners this week, Lexi Thompson is just the seventh woman to tee it up on the PGA Tour, the first to do so since 2018. Here's a look at all seven women who have competed among the men's top tour and the events in which they played.
- Babe Zaharias (1938 Los Angeles Open, 4 additional events)
- Shirley Sport (1952 Northern California-Reno Open)
- Annika Sorenstam (2003 Bank of America Colonial)
- Suzy Whaley (2003 Greater Hartford Open)
- Michelle Wie (2004 Sony Open, 7 additional events)
- Brittany Lincicome (2018 Barbasol Championship)
- Lexi Thompson (2023 Shriners Children's Open)
Has a woman ever made the cut on the PGA Tour?
Of the seven women to tee it up on the PGA Tour, Babe Zaharias is the only one to make the cut, doing so first at the 1945 Los Angeles Open and two more times that year at the Phoenix and Tuscon Opens.
Despite Zaharias' cut-making success, Michelle Wie (now Wie-West) actually holds the best round for a woman on the PGA Tour, shooting a 68 at the 2004 Sony Open at just 14 years old in the second round. She only missed the cut that week by one stroke.
