Stacy Lewis has bowed out of professional golf after an emotional second round of the first women’s Major of the year, the Chevron Championship.
The 41-year-old closed out her 18-year career with a round of 77 as she missed the cut at the Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, finishing with a par with her dad, Dale, as her caddie, who stepped into the role for the final hole.
Lewis, who is four months pregnant with her second child, originally announced her retirement last September, declaring: “The time has come to put the clubs away. I will finish out the 2025 season, but this will be my last on the LPGA.”
Sure enough, until this week’s event, where she was eligible as a former champion having won in 2011, she hadn’t played in 2026.
Lewis wiped away tears on the 18th, and admitted afterwards it was because of the emotion of finishing her professional career with her dad alongside her.
Champion. Leader. Mother. Legend.But it's what Stacy Lewis has meant to this game, and the people in it, that makes her a true championCongratulations on an incredible career, @Stacy_Lewis 🏆 pic.twitter.com/yRWKI2hHh7April 24, 2026
She said: “Well, the tears were more because I looked at my dad. I probably shouldn't have looked at my dad. I guess my emotions are probably a lot different than theirs.
“They're probably a little bit more sad, where I'm just ready. I'm ready for the next chapter and ready to stop grinding over eight-footers like that on the last hole when it doesn't matter. But that's just who I am. So yeah, it was just more seeing the family and seeing the friends and kind of their emotions.”
Lewis’ glittering pro career included two Majors among 13 LPGA Tour titles, while she also played in the Solheim Cup four times and was the US captain in 2023 and 2024.
However, at the start of her career, that outcome looked unlikely, with Lewis having back surgery while she was in high school.
She touched on that while reflecting on her career, adding: “I just think back to the kid in high school wearing a back brace and being told I have to have surgery to 25 plus years later to still be playing golf, to be doing it at this level to gave accomplished what I did, I mean, it's really kind of a fairytale.
“I don't think this is - anyone would've predicted any of this. So I'm just really grateful. Grateful for the opportunities I had and all the people that supported me along the way.”
While Lewis, who finished on 12 over to miss the cut by 10, will now concentrate on her private life, she hasn’t written off the chance of playing in some capacity down the line.
She said: “No, I mean, I don't know the next time I will play 18 holes so probably will be after - might be this time next year, maybe in the pro-am here next year.”
