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Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Golfer Lexi Thompson will become the seventh woman in history to face men in a PGA Tour event when she tees off this month at the 2023 at the Shriners Children's Open, she announced Wednesday. The tournament will be held from Oct. 12 to 15 at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. Thompson received a sponsor exemption to play in the event.
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"The Shriners Children's supports all children, regardless of gender, with disabilities and as we know disability does not discriminate," Thompson wrote on Instagram.
"I'm hopeful my ability to play with the men next week at the Shriners Children's Open sends a great message to the young women that you can chase your dreams regardless of how difficult they may seem."
Thompson, 28, ranks No. 13 in average driving distance (270 yards) among LPGA Tour competitors. She ranks No. 60 in greens in regulation, No. 159 in driving accuracy and No. 126 in putting average.
The No. 25 player in the Women's World Golf Rankings turned professional in 2010. She went on to win 11 titles. Thompson claimed her lone major at the 2014 Chevron Championship. She won her most recent PGA Tour title at the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Brittany Lincicome became the sixth woman to compete in a PGA Tour event in 2018, when she teed up at the Barbasol Championship. Michelle Wie West, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Suzy Whaley, Annika Sorenstam and Shirley Spork are the other women who played in PGA Tour events.
The LPGA Tour schedule will continue with the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America. That event will be held from Thursday through Sunday in the Colony, Texas, just north of Dallas.
The PGA Tour schedule will continue Thursday, with the first round of the Sanderson Farms Championship. That event will run through Sunday in Jackson, Miss.
No. 7 Max Homa and No. 5 Patrick Cantlay are among the top men's golfers in the 132-player field for the Shriners Children's Open, which includes an $8.4 million prize purse. Tom Kim is the defending champion.
