Stacy Lewis excited to lead US Solheim Cup team

When Stacy Lewis was chosen as the captain last week, she became the youngest woman — by nearly a decade — to lead the team. At just 36, Lewis is still in the prime of her career and could very easily find herself as a playing captain in Spain next fall.

Lewis has played in four Solheim Cups (2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017), and pulled out of the 2019 competition because of injury. She stepped in as an assistant captain that year, then served again in 2021 for Pat Hurst’s team.

Lewis is fired up about leading the American squad.

“I absolutely love the Solheim Cup, and I want 2023 to be as great an experience for my team as my years wearing Red, White and Blue have been for me,” she said in a statement.

In choosing Lewis, the LPGA changed the direction of team leadership, which has always gone to a player either past their prime or one who has already stepped away as a competitor.

Lewis is still a regular on leaderboards, currently ranked 42nd in the world and the ninth highest American. Her 13th career LPGA title came just 18 months ago at the Scottish Open.

All that experience gives her an intimate knowledge of the players and easy access to hear their thoughts on the team.

“I want to get their feedback and learn what they like and don’t like,” Lewis said. “As a player, the hardest thing is, you show up and you’re given a schedule. I want to talk to everybody and hopefully add some more flexibility so players can prepare the way they need to prepare.”

Part of the preparation for Lewis is taking notes — lots of them — from everybody she talks to. Whether it’s players, fans, past captains or LPGA officials, Lewis wants to be a sponge to make the 2023 experience the best one possible.

“I have learned so much from the past captains on the Solheim Cup Committee, and the fact that they chose me to lead this team is one of the proudest moments of my career,” she said.

A familiar foe will be leading the European squad in Suzann Pettersen, a Solheim veteran who made the winning putt in 2019 and retired as a golfer that day.

“You’ve got two fiery people. It’ll be a lot of fun,” Lewis said. “That’s one of the things I’m most excited about.”

In choosing Lewis, the LPGA bypassed some other possible candidates including Cristie Kerr, Angela Stanford and Paula Creamer.

Kerr is a 20-time LPGA Tour winner, a nine-time member of the Solheim Cup team and the winningest American player in the competition’s history.

The LPGA has not said who it considered or offered the job to, only announcing that Lewis was the choice.

The Solheim Cup will be played Sept. 18-24, 2023, at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain.

Chip shots

— It’s a big week on the PGA Tour, with the Genesis Invitational wrapping up the West Coast Swing. It features the best field of the year so far, including all of the top 10 players in the world rankings and the first PGA Tour start for Rory McIlroy since he won the CJ Cup in Las Vegas four months ago.

— It’s also a big week on the Champions Tour with the first full-field event of the season. The highlight of the Chubb Classic in Naples, Florida, is the Champions debut of former world No. 1 David Duval.

Greg Robertson covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at grobertson@reviewjournal.com.