Let’s rewind for a second. It’s Sunday, the final round at the 2017 ANA Inspiration (now the Chevron Championship). Lexi Thompson starts the day with a two-shot lead, then extends it to three through 11 holes. Everything is looking good. And then, out of nowhere—BOOM. LPGA officials hit her with a four-shot penalty mid-round. Why?

Well, the day before, on the 17th hole, she marked her ball on the green and accidentally placed it back a fraction of an inch off. The thing is, no one caught it in the moment. But a TV viewer at home did. They emailed the LPGA about it, and after reviewing the footage, officials decided to penalize her right in the middle of the final round.

Two strokes for playing from the wrong spot. Another two for signing an incorrect scorecard. Just like that, her Saturday 67 turned into a 71. Her two-shot lead? Gone. Thompson was in absolute shock. “Is this a joke?” she asked, clearly frustrated. “Whatever. That’s just ridiculous.”

But she wasn’t about to go down without a fight. Somehow, she pulled herself together and birdied two of the last three holes, forcing a playoff with So Yeon Ryu. She even had a chance to win it outright—her 15-foot eagle putt on 18 came this close to dropping, but it stopped just short.

In the playoff, though, the momentum wasn’t on her side. Her tee shot landed in the rough, forcing her to lay up. Meanwhile, Ryu positioned herself perfectly, and when Thompson’s 25-foot birdie putt came up a foot short, the heartbreak was complete. It’s been eight years, but that moment still stings, and she recently shared about it. 

During a recent chat with The Scoop, the 11-time LPGA Tour winner got candid about the lows of her career. “Getting the four-shot penalty at ANA was a big deal. Of course, it’s the same event that I won that I always, you know, dreamt of winning. So to have that kind of put a dagger in it,” she admitted. “It’s definitely a low moment. Still kind of deal with it day-to-day, but it’s life. Things happen. Sometimes you don’t know why exactly, but you got to get through it.”

Lexi Thompson has lived and breathed golf for as long as she can remember. She turned pro at just 15, won her first major at 19, and for years, was one of the biggest names in women’s golf. But as much as she loved the sport, the toll it took on her mental health ultimately led her to step away. Last year, in May, she announced that 2024 would be her final full season as a professional golfer. Now, she’s embracing a new chapter—happily engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Max Provost, and preparing to walk down the aisle. It all sounds like a dream, but with her recent admission, it clearly was not without significant trouble. 

That ruling didn’t just take away a win—it took away a dream. But if there’s one thing Thompson has learned over the years, it’s that even the toughest setbacks don’t define you. They shape you. And for her, that moment—brutal as it was—made her into the fighter she is today.

What learnings does Lexi Thompson take with her?

Golf, like life, can be unfair. You can do everything right, work your hardest, and still have things go sideways. But if there’s anything Thompson has realized over the years, it’s that perfection is a myth. What really matters is how you handle the tough moments. Reflecting on everything golf has taught her, she shared her honest take.

“I think something I’ve learned just throughout my whole life with golf in general, which is so great about the game, but can be very frustrating at times, is that it’s a game that you can never perfect. It’s always an ongoing learning process, and it’ll test you, it’ll test your patience, your determination, your work ethic, and what I’ve learned along the years is just, I still struggle with it, but giving yourself some grace in those moments because we’re not perfect. You know, we work extremely hard at what we do, so, you know, there’s going to be bad days, but a matter of getting through those bad days.”

That’s the thing about setbacks—they can either break you or teach you how to push forward. For Thompson, it’s always been about the latter. Even in the toughest moments, she’s found a way to pick herself up, dust herself off, and keep moving. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about winning every battle—it’s about learning how to keep fighting.