EXCLUSIVE: Stacy Lewis wants to lead USA’s Solheim Cup defence and front a new era for women’s golf

Stacy Lewis is undefeated as a Solheim Cup captain and hasn't ruled out a third term in Holland in 2026.

Stacy Lewis might be the most revolutionary Solheim Cup captain America has ever had. What she wants to do next could change the women’s game for the better.

Stacy Lewis has a lot to think about right now. Her daughter wants a swimming pool, while everyone else wants to know what’s next for America’s culture-changing captain. This is the first time Lewis has given a one-to-one interview since she left Robert Trent Jones Golf Club to the sound of players singing ‘Stacy’s Mom’. For the last two years, her life has been consumed by stats, late-night conversations and too many hours spent watching golf or reading about the game.

Her husband had hoped that things might change once the celebrations from this year’s Solheim Cup had died down. Except, it didn’t quite work out that way.

“I got home on Monday night, and when I turned on the TV, the Solheim Cup coverage was actually being replayed from Sunday,” she says, scrunching her face up in embarrassment. “I actually stayed up late and watched the whole thing again. But it’s been really fun to reflect on it. To think what we actually did… I mean, it has been really, really cool. And now, it is almost like, what’s next? You know, what do I do now?”

A smile breaks out across her face as she pre-empts the follow-up question. She’s yet to have a conversation with the US Solheim Cup selection committee about her future, though it’s easy to assume that she would be the popular choice among players and fans to lead the team for a record-equalling third time at Bernardus Golf in 2026.

One of her abiding memories was seeing 12 players and her four assistants bounding down the 18th fairway on Sunday, chanting her name in unison. The wistful tone in her voice suggests she would like to experience that feeling again.

“If I was asked (to be captain again), I’d have a hard time saying no, just because it’s the most enjoyable thing I’ve gotten to do in this game. I mean, I enjoy playing golf, but this was just so much fun, getting to be around this team, trying to move the Solheim Cup forward.

“But I also think that with the assistants I brought on board, they (Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford, Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome) are going to be your next couple of captains moving forward. And that was purposeful, to try to set up this blueprint for success.”

A lot has already been made about how Lewis has changed the culture of a team that had been ground down by so many near misses. It started on a tearful flight back home from Spain last September, where she concluded that “there was a lot of tension” among players who were trying to play perfect golf.

To help build the team back up, she arranged a series of team dinners in the calendar and took all 12 players on a day trip around the nation’s capital to foster the kind of fun and togetherness that had been lacking last September. At night, she read several books on leadership and looked outside of golf for examples of best practice. She found them from an unlikely source.

“I read articles about our (US) women’s soccer team, and what they have gone through with the changing of the guard, and what (Head Coach) Emma Hayes has done to change things there. And that’s really what we needed. We need a culture shift kind of similar to that.

“I had LPGA player Emma Talley come in and be our social media person behind the scenes. She has this infectious personality, and she kept the team room so light. I mean, to see Nelly skipping out of the tunnel with Megan Khang… I almost fell over. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see that from Nelly. But I think that showed what was going on behind the scenes. And Emma was a big part of that.”

At the Women’s Open, she gave every player a t-shirt with the words ‘Unfinished Business’ emblazoned on the front. She then invited all 11 past captains to speak after the opening ceremony and regularly called on the expertise of stats guru Justin Ray – America’s not-so-secret weapon – for performance insights to help justify decisions to herself as much as the players.

“The biggest thing I was able to do this year with hosting was I got to help set up the golf course. It’s really the first time that our officials have said, ‘What do you want?’ And I was able to give them a definitive answer of what I wanted, based on our data. I wanted us to be hitting shots from 130 to 170 (yards) into every green. I wanted rough and I wanted bunkers in play off the tee. I wanted a ball striker’s paradise, basically.

She tells the story of how Ray visited the Solheim Cup venue in early 2024 and used data from the PGA Tour’s Quicken Loans National event nine years earlier to generate profiles of the types of player that could succeed at Robert Trent Jones. In comparing the two teams, Lewis was presented with a report which showed America had the edge in ball-striking terms.

“We went hole by hole and I said, ‘I don’t want tees to be moving up, I want them to stay back.’ And that’s what helped us more than anything. Had it become a wedge and putter contest, I don’t think we would have won. I wanted to keep it a ball striker’s contest.”

Her reliance on data – and the revelation from Ray that wildcard Sarah Schmelzel was the best performer in Thursday’s practice session – convinced Lewis to place her trust in Schmelzel and fellow rookie Lauren Coughlin, ahead of more established names such as Khang and Jennifer Kupcho. It also denied fans the chance of seeing two of America’s biggest stars playing together for the final time.

“Originally – and I know people would have loved this – we had Lexi and Nelly going out and playing alternate shots together, but when we did the golf ball testing for foursomes, their golf balls were pretty different. Lexi wanted to make it work, but I just felt like they were too far apart, so we kind of moved away from that.”

By Thursday night, every pairing was pre-planned for the first two days. She even risked upsetting a few players by pivoting away from a long-standing policy.

“We’ve always tried to play all of our players in fourballs,” she explained in her press conference afterwards. “We did some research, and the last five winning Ryder Cup teams didn’t play all of their players in fourball. We’ve done that in the past to get everybody ready for singles.

“This year, I said I’m going to put out the best possible pairings I can for every session, and if it doesn’t get everybody in fourballs, then it doesn’t get everybody in fourballs. That was something I learned last time that we’re probably going to keep doing going forward.”

Her approach and strategy were so well thought out that America never lost a team session all week. She even tried to plan it so that Lexi or Coughlin holed the winning putt in the singles. It was perhaps the only thing she got wrong all week.

“It almost came to fruition, almost,” she says, smiling on our Zoom call. “I thought six-seven-eight (in the order) was going to be important, so I wanted to put good putters there and people that could handle the moment.

“I didn’t tell the team this… but I didn’t love the matchups on Sunday. I felt like the Europeans were actually playing very well. I was nervous all day and you could see it in a few of the players as well, just because we haven’t been able to get over the hump on Sundays.

“That last hour, hour and a half, was awful. It just felt out of my control and in a way, it felt like Spain all over again. But then that finish by Lilia (Vu) was unreal. In that moment, as soon as it happened, it was like time just slowed down. It was kind of a relief, but at the same time I was just so happy and so proud of the team that we got it done.”

After two years of trying to juggle playing with captaining, Lewis is looking forward to being a full-time mother again. The 39-year-old shut down her season two weeks after the Solheim finished and doesn’t plan on playing again until next year.

“I need the break,” she says, blowing her cheeks out. “My golf game suffered some because of it, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m gonna take a few months off and kind of figure out what’s next. I don’t see it as like I’m done, done, but my daughter started kindergarten and my life and priorities are changing a little bit.”

Her own website describes her as America’s most inspirational golfer, which could just as easily refer to her journey into golf as much as her ability to bring out the best in the current and future generations. Diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 11, she wore a back brace 18 hours a day for the next six years, removing it only to play golf.

When the bracing method failed, she underwent nine months of rehab, having had a metal rod and five screws surgically fused into her spine. The fact she was even able to play golf again was a miracle in itself, let alone winning two Majors and forging the career that she has.

Time spent in Lewis’ company confirms that she has a lot of bright ideas for the sport, which include turning the Presidents Cup into a mixed event and bringing together senior and Epson Tour players to help prepare the future generation for life on the LPGA. So, would she ever consider making the step up into the boardroom and taking on a bigger leadership role?

The 16 years she has spent on the LPGA Tour have, she says, given her a lot of thinking time, something which comes across as she attempts to explain what is holding the women’s game back.

“Straight at a Solheim Cup level, we’ve got to make the fan experience better,” she says, sternly. “We’ve got to make our events perfect, and perfect for dads to bring their daughters to. I have a five-year-old myself and we need to have a station where you can go to make bracelets and get face paint. You know, all the stuff little girls love to do.

“Why aren’t we doing this at events on the LPGA, week in and week out? Why weren’t there radio pieces at the Solheim so that everyone could listen to the broadcast and know what was going on? The bus thing was big, but we need to make the fan experience better across the board.”

“I would love that, to be honest,” says Lewis, who currently serves as a Player Director on the LPGA board. “I’ve always been a big picture person of seeing things, not just how they affect me, but how it affects everyone. I’ve been able to help the tour in getting sponsorships and bringing KPMG on board. So, I’ve had an influence over the last few years. I just feel like, as a player, I’m kind of reaching my whole limit. If I want to continue to affect things more, it’s going to have to be in a different role, in a different position.”

What that role ends up being, only time will tell. What seems crystal clear, however, is that Stacy Lewis’ business is far from finished. 

About the author

Michael Catling – Features Editor

Michael Catling is an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.

Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with the game’s biggest names, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Martin Slumbers and Justin Thomas.

Get in touch with Michael via email and follow him on X.