As Lexi Thompson walked from the 12th green to the 13th tee, she was about to lose a major championship, and she had no idea. She had a three-shot lead and looked to be cruising towards her second major when a rules official approached to explain a penalty. “Is this a joke?” she asked. Well, it wasn’t. A one-inch slip on a tap-in the day before, spotted by a stranger watching at home, was about to rewrite the 2017 ANA Inspiration for her.

Nearly a decade on, Thompson is away chasing a very different dream. We’ll get there, but first, let’s go back to the day the incident unfolded.

Years later, in 2024, recollecting the incident, she admitted the hurt it had caused. She said, “It was like my dream was just ripped right from my hands.”

Notably, this wasn’t just another tournament or leaderboard for Thompson. The 2017 ANA Inspiration, the first major of the LPGA season, was being played at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. Today, it’s known as the Chevron Championship, while in 2014, it was still called the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Thompson had a history of success at the course. She first played there as a 14-year-old amateur and then won it at 19, becoming the second-youngest major champion in LPGA history. She said winning there was something she had always seen herself doing, and she took the traditional leap into Poppie’s Pond. So, by 2017, she already had one major. What she wanted was a second at a tournament where she had announced herself.

And she did arrive there very much in form. Her four rounds read 69, 67, 67, and 67, which would have given her an 18-under total and a four-shot win. Looking back, she has often said she never played golf better.

A One-Foot Putt on Saturday

However, much of her progress came undone because of a rules violation. During Saturday’s third round, Thompson marked a one-foot putt with a coin on the 17th green but replaced the ball about an inch away from its original position. The gap was so small that nobody noticed.

But the next day, on Sunday, a viewer emailed the LPGA’s fan website while she and Suzann Pettersen were playing the ninth hole. That prompted an investigation. Officials spent nearly two hours reviewing the video before LPGA rules official Sue Witters delivered the news to Thompson after the 12th green.

“Is this a joke?” she asked.

Understandably so, because the penalty wiped out her lead. The punishment came in two parts. She received a two-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong place and another two strokes for signing a scorecard with a lower score than she had actually made, turning her 67 into a 71. Before a 2016 rule change, the scorecard error alone would have meant disqualification.

As Thompson heard the news, she appeared to choke up but gathered herself, smashed her drive and birdied the 13th hole. Three birdies in all helped force a playoff. On the 18th, her 15-foot eagle putt to win stopped about an inch short, and So Yeon Ryu birdied the playoff hole to win her second major.

But the incident sparked widespread discussion. Thompson later spoke to the press, explaining the move and saying she had marked the ball because she was angry about her first putt and had rotated it to line up her dot. She had never intended to violate any rules.

Furthermore, the golf world rallied behind her. Even Tiger Woods tweeted, “Let’s go Lexi, win this thing anyway.” Pettersen, meanwhile, praised the class Thompson showed in handling herself back on the course.

How the rules changed

The outrage did lead to a change in the rules. Three weeks later, the USGA and R&A issued Decision 34-3/10. It stated that no penalty would apply when video evidence showed something the naked eye could not see, and a player’s reasonable judgment would stand even if video later proved it wrong.

Players also nicknamed the change the “Lexi Rule,” although the USGA said it had already been in the works. The LPGA also dropped the additional scorecard penalty, which was set to become a worldwide rule. Thompson was among the first to applaud the changes.

However, the hurt still lingered. Ahead of the 2018 tournament, she said, “I had nightmares about it, and I still occasionally do.”

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she stayed off social media afterwards. Yet, she won twice that season while coping with her mother’s cancer battle. Notably, she has not had the chance to win the event again. In 2024, she missed the cut by six shots. She tied for 14th in 2025 and tied for 12th in Houston this April.

That being said, Thompson is moving into a new chapter and chasing a new dream. She announced in 2024 that it would be her last full season on the golf course and married Max Provost in March 2026.

When she announced her retirement, she shared some telling words: “There are different dreams to focus on in my life.”

Moreover, in August, she announced that she was expecting a baby girl, due in February, and said, “The best chapter of our lives is just beginning.”