LEXI THOMPSON’S former caddie Kevin McAlpine has passed away aged 39.

The sudden death was confirmed by his father Hamish, who is a former Scottish footballer.

McAlpine was in the United States when he died.

Hamish said to The Courier: “We are completely in the dark about what has happened. 

“It is true that he has been unwell but we believed he was on the mend.

“There is to be an autopsy and at the moment there is very little we can say.

“We really don’t want to talk about this at this stage. 

“As a family we are completely devastated. You can imagine how we are feeling.”

McAlpine was an amateur golf champion before going into caddying.

He was married to three-time major winner Anna Nordqvist with the couple going through divorce proceedings since August.

It has been reported that she has withdrawn from the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea this week.

McAlpine worked with Thompson for 18 months and their partnership soon ended after disaster at the 2017 ANA Inspiration.

She suffered a four-shot penalty due to a ball placement error and went on to lose the major.

McAlpine also caddied for Amy Yang and Martin Laird in his career.