Stacy Lewis hadn’t even been publicly announced as the 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup captain when she started filling up a notebook. At 36, she might be the youngest to be named captain of Team USA, but she believes plenty more just like her will follow. In true Lewis form, she’s already thinking of ways to make the job better.
“Behind the scenes, I want to set things up in place for future captains,” Lewis told a group of reporters, “so certain things from when the announcement is made to when you go about the process of doing your clothes and your bag and all that stuff, that it’s already kind of in place and set up, that it’s not kind of reinventing the wheel every time. Because I think looking forward, your captains are going to continue to be younger. They might still be playing like I am, so there’s got to be a balance there.”
Lewis, who will lead the USA’s efforts to reclaim the Solheim Cup from Team Europe at Finca Cortesin in Spain on September 22-24, is already big on practice sessions, wanting to make sure the routines of Solheim week are comfortable for all 12 players as best she can. This will be the hardest event of their careers inside the ropes, said Lewis, and she’s all about making it as stress-free and fun as possible. She also wants to win.
Lewis will keep some of the pod system that three-time captain Juli Inkster put in place but make it more flexible.
“It comes down to making putts,” said Lewis. “We didn’t do enough of that at Inverness. That’s what I talked about, being in these last groups and learning how to handle the pressure and the emotions of it. That’s really what the putting comes down to.”
Could she possibly lead by example next year in Spain? Heading into 2022, Lewis never imagined she’d be a playing captain. But after opening up the 2022 season T-4, T-8 and T-18, she’s not counting it out.
“If I need to build the best team possible and my name is a part of that,” she said, “then I’ll do it.”
Lewis sounded a bit like a new commissioner when she noted that she planned to do a lot of listening in the next few months. She wants to talk to fans, media, players, caddies, and players’ families. Team USA has lost the last two Solheim Cups, and she’s determined to do the work needed to change that.
“I want to figure out what we’re missing,” she said. “The pieces that we’re missing to help these girls play better and help make it be a better experience for the fans or whatever it may be.”
The Solheim Cup is the biggest stage in the women’s game, and Lewis wants everyone on her team to understand the history of the event and the weight of its importance. She wants past players and past captains involved as much as possible so that current players can feel their passion.
A 13-time winner on the LPGA who ascended to No. 1 and won two majors, Lewis is a big-picture thinker and straightforward communicator. She’ll take advice and she’ll compromise, but there will be no gray area. While her Solheim Cup record is lacking at 5-10-1, she’s open about what she has learned over the years. Like the time in Colorado when she got frustrated after a missed putt and walked off the green, only to have partner Paula Creamer yell at her to come back and be a good partner.
“Gosh, you have more humbling moments in golf when you lose,” she said.
Growing up with scoliosis made Lewis tough. It also gave her great perspective. She wasn’t a child prodigy or even a top college recruit. She slowly, and somewhat surprisingly, built herself into the best player in the world and made the tour stronger in the process. Now she’s a working mom working hard to make the tour better for generations to come.
Lewis will be 38 years old by the time the next Solheim Cup rolls around. The youngest U.S. captain to date was Patty Sheehan in 2002 at age 45. Catrin Nilsmark was 36 when she captained Europe to victory in 2003.
Juli Inkster, who along with recent past captains Meg Mallon and Pat Hurst served on the committee that selected Lewis, told her: “You’re ready for this.”
Of that, there is no doubt.
