LPGA Standout Stacy Lewis on Leadership, Hard Work, Family, and the Solheim Cup

New Dormie Network ambassador Stacy Lewis made headlines last month when she was named the youngest U.S. captain in Solheim Cup history — and the second youngest overall. The LPGA made its much-anticipated announcement, selecting her to lead Team USA during the 2023 biennial matches at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain.

With her wealth of experience and passion for the Solheim Cup as powerful as anyone who has ever competed, Stacy is viewed by many as an ideal leader. Among active players, she garners tremendous respect, having served as an assistant Team USA captain for Pat Hurst in 2021, and also unofficially for Juli Inkster in 2019, after back troubles forced Stacy to withdraw from competing in Scotland. The 37-year-old has played in four Solheim Cups, with a career record of 5-10-1.

She knows from experience the importance of players feeling comfortable during the stress-packed week of international team competition. “I want to create a really positive, fun environment where the girls can be successful,” she said. “[The players] need to know the history of the Cup, and that requires getting the past captains and the past players involved to show their passion for the event. Meg [Mallon] and Juli [Inkster] brought that to me. I saw their passion, and that’s what I want to convey to them through myself and the assistants that I do bring in.

“I also want them to know what it means to have that American flag on them, and what an honor that is, too.”

Born in 1985 in Toledo, Ohio, Stacy grew up at The Woodlands outside of Houston, Texas. She suffered from scoliosis, which was diagnosed at age 11, and spent 6 1/2 years in a back brace before being treated with a spinal fusion when she was in high school. After the surgery, Stacy wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk, let alone swing a golf club again. She graduated from The Woodlands High School in 2003, but was forced to miss her entire first collegiate golf season recovering from the surgery.

Despite the challenges, Stacy went on to capture the 2007 NCAA championship, along with 12 tournaments overall at the collegiate level while putting the University of Arkansas women’s golf program on the map. She was the best amateur player in the country during the two years prior to turning professional. In her last event as an amateur, the prestigious Curtis Cup held at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Stacy became the first person in the 76-year history of the event to post a 5-0 record while leading the U.S. team to an historic victory.

“Like in most sports, you’re going to peak at a certain time,” she said. “Golf-wise, I always ask kids, ‘Do you want to play your best golf at 14 or 15, or do you want to play your best when you’re older?’ I’ve always had to work hard. There’s some talent there, but not compared to some of these other girls who are just crazy talented. I’ve had to go through a lot and everything I’ve gone through has made me the person that I am. It’s made me the fighter on the golf course.

“What I tell people a lot is that everything in life happens for a reason, and there’s a reason that something may be a disappointment right now, but there’s a reason that it’s happening and you’re probably going to find out later on in life at some point. So, you try to make the best of it and you just keep fighting and keep working hard. That’s my motto.”

After college, Stacy took the LPGA by storm, winning her first major at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship and winning six more times in the span of 23 events. She captured her second major, the Women’s British Open, in 2013 and became the second American to reach the pinnacle of the game in March 2013, after winning what’s now known as the Cognizant Founders Cup.

LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park knocked Stacy off the World No. 1 pedestal four weeks later, but she would climb back to No. 1 in 2014 and remain there for another 21 weeks. She won two Rolex LPGA Player of the Year titles in a three-year span (the first American player to win LPGA Player of the Year since 1994) as well as the Vare Trophy for low-scoring average in 2013 and 2014.

Putting her accomplishments in perspective, there have been just two American players to reach No. 1 in the world since Rolex began calculating the rankings, current sensation Nelly Korda being the most recent and Stacy.

Today, the title about which Stacy is most proud comes in the form of a hashtag: #LPGAMom. Stacy and her husband, Gerrod Chadwell, the women’s golf coach at Texas A&M, welcomed a baby girl named Chesnee Lynn Chadwell on October 25, 2018.

Yet, while Stacy may have mellowed somewhat in motherhood – there are more smiles and casual conversations now than at the height of her career — her competitive fire is still burning. She is regularly on the driving range working hard, often under the tutelage of her coach, Joe Hallett in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Life has completely changed, from the way I prepare and how much sleep I get,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing – I see it as a good thing. Chesnee has been the greatest little blessing. But I still want to go play good golf. I feel like I can still be competitive and that desire to win that has never changed.”

In August 2020, Stacy’s three-year wait for her 13th LPGA title ended thanks to a hard-fought victory in the Ladies Scottish Open, where she holed a long birdie putt to win at the first extra hole of a four-way playoff. Ever the trailblazer, she became the first American player to win the Ladies Scottish Open since Meredith Marshall won the title in 1986, and Stacy’s $225,000 winner’s check brought her career earnings past the $13 million mark, making her just the eighth player in LPGA history to achieve that threshold.

As honored as she was to be selected as Solheim Cup captain, Stacy said it happened earlier in her career than she expected. She added that she plans to play as many LPGA events as possible in the coming seasons, and if she happens to be playing well enough to make the team, she’s open to being a playing captain. “If it gets to next summer and my name is still on that points list and I’m in the mix — if I need to build the best team possible and my name is a part of that, then I’ll do it,” she said.

Get the latest on Stacy’s career at lpga.com.