Stacy Lewis takes the reins of US Solheim Cup captain again for the 19th edition of the match at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. How will her second captaincy be different? What is she looking forward to this time? The veteran LPGA star calls it a “great honor to be on a list of these legends of the game. It’s pretty amazing.” Amazing is a good description of last year’s event in Spain, when it ended in a dramatic tie. Lewis looks to get her team back in the winner’s circle this time and she’s committed to make her best moves as leader of the squad.
What learning lessons do you take into this Solheim?
First and foremost, we did a lot right. I bought this stats thing in and I really wasn't sure how it was going to go. We saw in that first session that it worked. We really figured out the alternate shot and we did a nice job of that.
I think we need to do a little bit better with our best ball pairings. I want them to play the way they always like to play. I don't want them to play like they have two balls in play on every hole. There are just some little things to strategy that I want to be a little bit more involved in, just to make sure they understand why I have them paired together.
It's about me communicating a little better this year. In my head, I know why I put Angel Yin and Cheyenne Knight together, but maybe they don't know why I put them together. So just communicating with them, the why is key. Also, I want to tell these girls, 'I need you to go out there and be aggressive, I need you to go make some birdies, this is not a format where pars are going to win holes.
There were times last year when Europe had one person completely out of play and in the hazard and the other person was sitting there making birdie and beating us, when we had two balls in play. So, it's just a little bit of adding assertiveness to the strategy there.
What will Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome bring to the leadership that you didn't have last time?
It worked out really good in Spain, with Morgan (Pressel), Natalie (Gulbis), and Angela (Stanford), but I also just wanted to switch things up, because we're going to have some different players on the team, so the complexion of the team itself is going to be different. I didn't want one person to feel like the odd woman out, so that's why I wanted to switch things up and make us feel like it's a different Solheim Cup.
I want to keep things moving as far as captains being ready for the future, gain some experience and to be around it. When I think of the Solheim Cup, I think of Paula Creamer. She's the face of it, she's the energy. I would always ask her how she’d make so many putts in Solheims. She was one of those players who played better in Solheims and it's just that experience, that's why I wanted her. And the energy, and the fans love her.
Brittany Lincicome is the polar opposite personality. She was more concerned about just having fun and hanging out with everybody. I want very different personalities in my assistants, so that everybody can feel like they have somebody that they can go talk to and be comfortable being themselves around them.
What challenge do you deem as the biggest in the week of Solheim?
Oh by far the pairings. The pairings are the hardest part about this whole thing to be honest. Before getting to Spain, I would sit there at home and ask myself 'how do I do this?' It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle. How do I have these parameters?
I know I want certain people to play certain formats. You're just trying to figure it all out, and then it all changed when I got to Spain. It was ever evolving and finally on Saturday night after I got the singles lineup out, I thought 'ok, I'm done. I can take a breath and relax'. It's up to how they play and you hope you're on the right side of it. This year, you just do your best and hope it ends up right.
How will delegating responsibilities be different this time?
It will be different for sure. Hosting here in the US, I'm going to have a lot more demands on me and my time. In Spain, there were a lot of times where I could just go and watch a practice round and hang around a bit.
There's times that I'll be pulled in to speak at various functions this year, or I'll need to do a run through for opening ceremonies. So while the players are practising this time, I'll use my assistants to be another set of eyes for me. How are they playing? What are the attitudes like? Do I need to talk to anybody? We have this little circle of trust among us. Whatever is said in the circle, doesn't leave the circle. If we need to be honest with some people, and work things out, we do it as a group. I've done that to try to help prepare the assistants too for being captain.
The uniforms, how important are they to you?
The details are what's important to me. I'm a very detailed person. A lot of these things add up to what it feels like, what the experience of Solheim Cup week feels like for these girls.
The clothes you wear matters. The material matters. If it feels crappy and if it doesn't fit very good, it affects how you feel about yourself and it will affect how you're going to play, so, what the bag looks like, how the clothes fit, what the clothes look like. I'm probably helping too much behind the scenes on these things. They're probably like 'you need to calm down.' But it matters to the experience.
We put a lot of thought into the clothes. And we've got a great company in Dunning Golf helping us out. Something really cool is I brought in a military-type theme this year. Because we're so close to our nation's capital, I wanted to celebrate the military that allows us to play golf for a living and to have great events like this.
We drew inspiration for the uniforms from the different branches of the military. We're going to continue that military theme throughout the week. September 11 is the week of the tournament, so we're having first responder day on 9/11 and so we're doing some really cool things around the week involving the military. We're going to do a trip into DC on Monday just to get some life experience and get to see some things they wouldn't normally get to see.
Is there anything different about the way you'll spend your time watching the matches unfold?
Last year I was all over the golf course. People were like, “Wow, she's on 6, now 10, and 18.” I was trying to be a resource for the caddies in how certain holes were playing, whether that was the wind or yardage, so that will be stuff that I talk to the caddies about. Where do you want me to be? Are there certain holes that you guys want me to be on? It's going to come down to whether 'does somebody need a pep talk?'
Assistants are not allowed to talk to the players, they're not allowed to give any advice once the matches start. But they can be another set of eyes for me and can say 'hey, this person has lost two holes in a row, I think you should walk with them for a bit.' The lead up to it, you get to know these players and which one needs a kick in the butt and which one needs a hug. It's trying to get to know how you talk to the players, how you motivate them, and so that's what a lot of the last few years have been for me.
Are you better at kick in the butt or the hug?
Definitely the kick in the butt. I was the one that always needed the kick in the butt. But I think now I can do the hug, and I have a little one who needs a hug a lot of times.
