Add Marina Alex to the list of players who have retired from the LPGA Tour this year, with the two-time tournament winner calling it a career after she finished tied for 12th in this past weekend’s CME Group Tour Championship at Naples, Florida.
The New Jersey native and Vanderbilt alum, who first played on the LPGA Tour in 2013, won the Portland Classic in 2018 and the Palos Verdes Championship in 2022.
Alex, 34, amassed $5.0 million in career earnings, according to the LPGA, including $720,000 this season, when she had 10 top-25 finishes and five top 10s. She had 83 top-25 finishes in her career and 35 in the top 10.
Alex’s final competitive round was a 6-under-par 66 Sunday that left her in a tie with Jennifer Kupcho, France’s Celine Boutier and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko. They were 10 shots behind winner Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand.
“It’s always hard to say goodbye,” Alex said. “I know this is what I want, and it’s the right decision for me right now. That doesn’t change the fact that this is a life that I built for the last 11 years out here, and golf has been my life since I’ve been a kid. We’re about to enter a new world of a new identity. It’s great, but change is never easy.”
Also playing in their final LPGA Tour competitive rounds Sunday were Lexi Thompson and Ally Ewing, who already had announced they were calling it a career. Thompson finished in a tie for 49th place at 2 under, while Ewing finished just behind Alex in a tie for 16th at 11 under.
Other players to say farewell from competitive golf this calendar year were Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, Angela Stanford, Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe, England’s Laura Davies, South Korea’s I.K. Kim, Amy Olson, Gerina Piller and Brittany Lincicome.