“I’m out here playing of course with the men, but I want to leave a message just to the kids that I am following my dreams and to go after what you want with a positive mindset and don’t let anybody’s comments or reaction get in the way of that.”
The 28-year-old will become the seventh woman to play in a tournament on the American tour when she tees off in the Shriners Children’s Open on Thursday.
The major champion, who received a sponsor’s invite to play in the event, says making the halfway cut would be “at the top of my accomplishments”.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias was the last woman to make a PGA Tour cut, in 1945.
“It’s been an honour just to get this invite, but one step, one shot at a time,” added Thompson, who is ranked 25 in the world.
Her fellow American Brittany Lincicome was the last woman to play in a PGA Tour event at the 2018 Barbasol Championship.
Thompson, who won her first and only major at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship [now Chevron Championship], has won 11 LPGA Tour titles.
She shot to fame in 2007 when, at the age of 12, she became the then youngest player to qualify for the US Women’s Open. Thompson also qualified in the following two years, and made the cut as a 14-year-old in 2009, before turning professional in 2010.
“Playing golf and being a woman golfer, a top woman golfer, I want to inspire people in general,” she said.
“[In a] male-dominated sport, I guess I just want to show that anything is possible and that I am following my dreams.
“I have done it since I was five years old, [been in the] spotlight since I was 12. You just have to block out everything and believe in yourself and go after what you want.”
Thompson will be playing alongside Kevin Roy and Trevor Werbylo during her opening round on Thursday.
“I knew some [negative] comments were going to happen [about being invited to play],” she added.
South Korean Tom Kim claimed the Shriners Children’s Open title last year.
