What to expect from Stacy Lewis’ back-to-back Solheim captaincy

As reported by GOLF.com over the weekend, Stacy Lewis has formally been named the 2024 Solheim Cup captain. With her stint as captain for 2023 already properly underway, the extension implies that Team USA may have continuity as they put together for Solheim Cups in back-to-back years.

Lewis is already one of the crucial adorned girls’s golfers of her era, and along with her back-to-back captaincy, she may have an opportunity to add to that legacy. At the age of 38 when competitors begins, she would be the youngest American captain as she leads Team USA in Spain wanting to snap a shedding drought.

The two-time main winner brings loads of expertise to the biennial occasion, taking part in 4 instances and serving as an assistant captain twice, however now she may have the run of present in back-to-back competitions. How does her imaginative and prescient for Team USA look as she takes on the position of captain? This is what she advised GOLF.com in an unique interview.

Her youth shall be an asset

As a golfer nonetheless within the midst of her taking part in profession, Lewis could be very plugged in on the day-to-day life on the LPGA Tour. That connection to the youthful era of stars shall be an asset as she takes on the position of captain.

“I know these girls so well,” Lewis stated. “I know their personalities. I know their games. I’m friends with a lot of them and have good relationships with them, so I think that trust is there. If I had been a little bit more removed and maybe not around as much, the buy-in might be a little bit harder. But knowing the girls I think is the biggest advantage I have.”

She’s keen to be versatile

Lewis has been across the Solheim Cup for the higher a part of a decade, however she’s beneath no illusions that she is aware of every thing it takes to be a captain. If certainly one of her strategies isn’t working, she gained’t hesitate to change course.

“If it works, we’re going to do it,” Lewis stated. “But the good part is we’ve got Spain to do what we planned, and if something doesn’t work or we don’t like something, we can switch it up and try something else in ’24. So we get a little bit of a trial run to figure things out.”

Continuity shall be key

With the Solheim Cup switching to even years in 2024, there shall be two competitions inside a 12-month span. The fast turnaround shall be a bit chaotic, however with Lewis on the helm, there shall be some continuity to assist make it a easy experience because the web page turns to ’24.

“The general makeup and how I’m going to do things is going to be very similar,” Lewis stated. “That was a lot behind the decision to have me do both of them, was just the fact that things will be so similar for the players. Just trying to have two captains, have our staff work with two captains, was going to be hard.”

Prep for ’24 is already properly underway

Lewis has not but stood on the first tee because the captain of Team USA, however she’s already preparing for when that second is available in 2024. Although this yr’s Solheim Cup takes precedent, preparations are already being made for the 2024 occasion exterior of D.C.

“We’ve already started throwing ideas around for ’24,” she stated. “We’ve got a ’23 pile and a ’24 pile started. There’s a lot of things for ’24 that will be done before we even play ’23. So this spring is going to be really busy.”

Analytics shall be emphasised

Analytics have performed a significant position in Ryder Cups over the previous decade, and with Lewis on the helm of Team USA, the identical shall be true on the Solheim Cup.

“You can go all the way to down to what type of player is going to play best on the golf course,” Lewis stated. “We’re going to use [analytics] as much as we can.”

There shall be a human ingredient as properly

While analytics will inform Lewis’ decision-making, she gained’t defer to the computer systems for each resolution. She’ll nonetheless have the autonomy to step in and make adjustments the place she sees match.

“There’s certain people that we know aren’t going to play together,” she stated. “But there’s definitely a human element that we’ll use as well.”

Buy-in is a should

Lewis hopes that through the use of a mixture of analytics and good-old-fashioned instinct, she’ll have the ability to earn buy-in from the gamers as they head off to Spain.

“It’s all about the buy-in,” Lewis stated. “When you can put a ‘why’ behind it, you get a lot more buy-in.”

Zephyr Melton

Golf.com Editor

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com the place he spends his days running a blog, producing and modifying. Prior to becoming a member of the workforce at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas adopted by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all issues instruction and covers beginner and girls’s golf. He might be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.