Lexi Thompson made headlines yet again; however, this time she left her fans devastated with her retirement announcement. The 29-year-old Thompson has won one major in her career but has several other accolades to her name. With 15 professional wins to her name, Thompson has acquired quite a bit of fame in the women’s golf industry. Now that she is retiring, an old photo has resurfaced on the internet, solidifying the fact that she was a young prodigy.

Jamie Kennedy, the Director of Digital Content at Golf Digest, shared a photo of a young Lexi Thompson on his X handle. In the photo, Thompson is seen in a corner full of trophies spread across the floor and cabinet tops. The number of trophies far exceeds at least three times the age of Thompson at the age when the photo might have been taken. The photo is captioned, “This photo of a young Lexi Thompson at home.”

In 2007, Lexi Thompson was entitled to be the youngest woman to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open at the age of only 12. She was only 15 years old when she became a professional golfer and had as amazing a career as she did as an amateur. A year later, at the age of 16, she again set a record by becoming the youngest golfer to have won an LPGA Tour after she won the Navistar LPGA Classic in 2011.

As an amateur, Lexi Thompson won the Aldila Junior Classic at the age of 12, becoming the second-youngest winner in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). That very year, she also won the Westfield Junior PGA Championship and became the youngest Junior PGA Championship winner. But that’s not all. For the next two years, she went on to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. Before turning pro in 2009, she won the Verizon Junior Heritage following a sudden-death playoff with Israeli professional golfer Laetitia Beck, who turned pro four years later.

When the golf industry saw the photo, they instantly started appreciating Thompson’s merit as a kid.

Thompson’s early achievements shocked the golf industry

One of the fans stated, “Incredible. With that much success at a young age, it has to be extremely difficult to keep going out there and trying to compete at the highest level. Hard to manage expectations, I’d imagine.” Understanding Thompson’s psyche after she turned pro, the fan alludes to the fact that Thompson has not been winning as much as she did as a junior. Compared to her early days, Thompson has seen many failures, missed cuts, and poor rankings as a pro in her career. Thus, the fan vocalizes the difficulties that Lexi Thompson might have felt lately, as she missed three cuts consecutively this season at the Chevron Championship, the Cognizant Founder’s Cup, and the Mizuho Americas Open.

Another fan wrote, “14 million in earnings over her career. I wonder how much she has made through product endorsement or sponsorship.” Given proof of Lexi Thompson’s capabilities with all the trophies for an exhibition, another fan questioned whether endorsement or sponsorship at all helps in making much difference in her career or has it been her wins at the events mostly.

Someone else also shared the photo, quoting, “This is why “retiring at 29″ means different things for different people.” They explained with the picture that even though a retirement at 29 might sound extremely early for many golfers, Lexi Thompson has already achieved a great deal to be able to proudly retire. She has had 6 Solheim Cup appearances and has played in two Olympics. She has achieved a lot of success that many golfers of her age are still looking for.

Yet another fan commented that Lexi Thompson might have worked too hard as a kid. They said, “I look at this and see a poor kid that played in way too many golf tournaments at too young of an age. I hope she is at peace and that she enjoys her retirement.” While acknowledging her brilliance at a young age, they also wished Thompson a peaceful retirement that she could enjoy. She now hopes to spend a lot of time with her family, her loving dog Leo, and herself. She also plans on launching her fitness app.

Someone else commented with a similar opinion. They stated, “Got all trophied out at a young age.” It might be taken with a grain of salt that Thompson has won far too many trophies early on in her career that now she is unable to win much as a pro lately.

We are hoping to see Thompson’s magical spell on the greens for the remainder of the season! Are you too?