For Stacy Lewis, he ended as he started. The old n ° 1 announced his retirement earlier this week At NW Arkansas ChampionshipWhere she played the existence of the tournament each year. Lewis, in fact, won the first edition in 2007 as an amateur, although time has shortened him in a turn and he was deemed unofficial.
The weather has once again practiced the NW championship of this week’s Arkansas, although this time Mother Nature denied Lewis the opportunity to give the local community a envoy last Sunday. Friday, it opened its doors with a 38-68 alongside Nelly Korda and Lauren Cochlin and achieved a single hole on Saturday before the suspension of the game.
Tournament officials said Pinnacle Country Club received 3.25 inches of rain on Saturday eveningLeaving the course unplayable. With more bad weather to come on Monday and Tuesday, it was unlikely that they will be able to obtain the 36 holes necessary to make it official.
Interestingly, the NW Arkansas 2007 event marked the last time that the tour was to consider an unofficial event.
A winner of 13 times on the LPGA, including two majorsA double player of the Rolex year and a double winner of the Vare trophy, Lewis wore a bag in Arkansas in Rogers this week, returning it to the place where it all started. She officially won the NW Arkansas championship in 2014.
‘The only place to do it’
Lewis met the media on the eve of the first round and said that when she spoke during a sponsor dinner on Wednesday evening, she “lost it completely”. The emotions came.
“It was really cool the last kind of 24 hours, I would say,” said Lewis of the time after his retirement announcement, “all the messages I received from friends, fans, people I don’t even know about telling little stories about where they met me and when they met me.
“You know, really somehow things in perspective that you are here while trying to win tournaments, but you can also have an impact on many people. This is really what I thought about in the last 24 hours.
“I am delighted that golf starts because this is what is more normal and what is easier at the moment. But I am delighted to do it more here. It was the only place for me to announce this. This is where my career started, so it was really the only place to do it. ”
What it meant was a razor
Lewis put the Arkansas Golf Program on the map, even if she did not think big when she signed a letter of intent. She just wanted to play university golf course and get education.
“When I was committed to coming to Arkansas, I was out of my hug,” said Lewis of his childhood scoliosis. “I assumed that I had finished with all the back belongings and I was not going to be a problem. After committing myself, I discovered that I was going to have to undergo surgery, which the goals have really changed. The goals have become, I just wanted to swing a golf club again.
“But I came to visit here and I fell in love with this. I fell in love with people. The city was like the right size for me, the school seemed to me to be the right size. I just remember going back to the visit and I said to my mother – we had made two other visits before – and I said, that’s where I had to be.
Play in front of a crowd
Having an LPGA stop in Arkansas has given huge opportunities for young players from Razorback. Lewis took the time to supervise the next generation and worked with coaches to create a plan to follow.
For Lewis, each year has marked a special return. A few years ago, Lewis became the first former student-athlete to donate $ 100,000 or more to Arkansas Athletics.
“This tournament has always been so special for me. Because no other player had that,” said Lewis. “No other player has this hometown, does not have the crowd like that on their side.
“You know, I said to Craig Kessler, our new commissioner, the first years of this tournament. Before Gaby (Lopez) was released, I was the only Razorback in Arkansas, and the players joke that they could find me anywhere on the golf course based on all pork calls.” So no one else has had that, so start and finish here is really appropriate. “”
Why she retires now
There was not really a moment. She had been thinking about it for a few years. Six years ago, Lewis underwent an injury to the rib cage which forced him to withdraw from the Solheim Cup. Since then, she has had important problems with her right side.
“I have a part of my back not to move and do not turn and do not turn,” said Lewis. “It’s just compensation over the years.
“To come back to the way I felt out of the surgery here my first year and not to look or not to twist and not be able to swing a golf club, to think that more than 20 years later, I would always swing a golf club at this level is really remarkable and I am really grateful for the opportunities I had.”
Captaining the Solheim Cup in 2023 and 2024 extended her career in some respects, and during the offseason, she found a way to feel better on the golf course and decided to give it one more push.
“I really wanted to see if he was still good golf course in me,” said Lewis. “I was able to organize good laps earlier this year and I really got into peace.
“I could not physically practice the way I want to call it two or three years.
What is the next step for Lewis?
Lewis will then play the Lotte championship in Hawaii in October, and it is perhaps for 2025, unless something special happens and that she qualified for one of the last two events of the season in Florida.
Her last event will be the Chevron 2026 championship, where she is a former champion, in her hometown of The Woodlands, Texas.
“I hope to continue to have an impact on this tour,” said Lewis. “I did it while I was playing and I was able to bring sponsors and bring the fans and do it in this way, but I want to continue to find ways to restore. I don’t know exactly what it looks like. I don’t have a work for sure. But I want to find ways to help because I like this tour. I love these girls.”
