Lewis named captain of U.S. Solheim Cup team

Two-time major champion and 13-time LPGA Tour winner Stacy Lewis has been named captain of Team USA for the 2023 Solheim Cup.

Lewis will lead a team of the top 12 American golfers that will seek to reclaim the cup when they face a Team Europe squad captained by Suzann Pettersen at Finca Cortesin in Spain.

Lewis will be 38 when the Sept. 22-24, 2023, event is played, making her the youngest American captain in Solheim Cup history and the event’s second-youngest captain ever. (Catrin Nilsmark was 36 when she captained Team Europe in 2003).

“To get the opportunity to lead your team and represent your country, basically you’re leading your country into this tournament, I don’t know how you put it into words,” Lewis told ESPN. “It’s such an honor.”

“As my career has gone on, I knew at some point I was going to get to do this, and it was definitely a little unexpected that it came earlier than I anticipated, but it’s such an honor to have those past captains select me and tell me on the phone that they really think I’m ready for this, knowing that they are going to be there to support me too,” she added. “I’m really, really excited for this opportunity to lead Team USA.”

Lewis competed on the 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 Solheim Cup teams, winning in her final two appearances. In 2019, after withdrawing from the competition due to an injury, she acted as an unofficial assistant captain under Juli Inkster. Last year, Lewis served as an assistant captain under Pat Hurst.

“I think you could say a little bit of having Chesnee [Lewis’ 3-year-old daughter] is going to help me as a captain,” Lewis said. “I’m going to be a little motherly and have to pick them up at times and boost their confidence and build them up and comfort them when things don’t go right. I think having Chesnee is going to be a really great asset in being a captain and managing a team. I want this to be their experience. This is not about me. It’s about them.”

Since her LPGA rookie season in 2009, Lewis has claimed numerous accolades in addition to her major triumphs at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2011 and Women’s British Open in 2013. From 2011 to 2016, she spent 264 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the world rankings, including 25 weeks at No. 1. She won the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year award in 2012 and 2014.

Held every two years, the Solheim Cup is a match-play competition that features the best players from the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour. Last year, Team Europe won for the second consecutive time with a 15-13 victory at Inverness Club in Ohio. Since the start of competition in 1990, Team USA maintains a 10-7 all-time lead over Team Europe.

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