ST ANDREWS, Scotland — Stacy Lewis is back in the top spot in the media room, answering late questions from anyone too shy to shout over the wind during press conferences.
Her 5-year-old daughter Chesney wonders if she will be able to have a pool, a “big pool,” if her mom wins again, like she did in 2013.
“Think about how I can help you, miss,” says Lewis.
It’s been 11 years since the Texas native birdied the final two holes to win the Women’s Open by two strokes. Her second shot on the 17th hole remains the best shot of her career, and her 5-iron is the only club she keeps in the office.
But as motherhood pushed golf out of her priorities and the stigma diminished, the demands of the LPGA Tour became more intense.
This year’s tour begins with two events in Florida and ends with three events in the Sunny State. The 10 months in between? A tangled zigzag map of the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia that would fit right in with Chesney’s school notebooks.
This week’s Open is the fifth major in as many months, not counting the Olympics at Le Golf National in France earlier this month. St. Andrews closes the major season, but with the Solheim Cup in September and another Pacific event this fall, which visits China, Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Hawaii in a span of 35 days, the schedule is packed and not over anytime soon.
At this press conference, we will only ask the most important questions!!!
Chesney asked his mother @Stacey_Lewis If only he could have a pool 🥰😂 pic.twitter.com/bhqgapR1Yz
— LPGA (@LPGA) August 21, 2024
The LPGA Tour’s 33 stops and majors this year combined add up to more than 215 hours of pure air time. That’s the equivalent of traveling around the world more than three times.
This is not a new problem. Last year’s schedule included a record 18 stops, more than 2,000 miles between tour stops. This season included trips to China and intracontinental visits to Thailand and Malaysia. In May, he traveled from the West Coast of Los Angeles to the East Coast of New Jersey. In June, he flew round-trip from Michigan to the Washington State PGA Championship, with only four days off in between.
Eight and a half months into the season, with 40-45 mph winds forecast for Thursday and many players missing the Scottish Open to reacquaint themselves with links golf, who can be expected to be at their best? “Probably not,” said Lewis, who will captain Team USA at the Solheim Cup in Virginia next month. “When you talk to players who have been in the Olympics, that week is really tough emotionally. So no, especially in an Olympic year, the schedule is really, really tough.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the schedule lately, but at the same time, I’ve been doing this for 15 or 16 years. You learn how to deal with it, you learn how to prepare for the moment, and you just learn to do your best.”
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The Women’s Open is at St. Andrews, and the Old Course is ready for the competition.
Since 2009, prize money for the Women’s Open has grown by 409%, from $2.2 million to $9 million. It has also tripled since AIG began sponsoring the tournament in 2020.
Lewis described the improvements in infrastructure and facilities at the Women’s Open as “night and day” compared to 2013, but believes there are challenges in finding ways to ease the gruelling schedule.
“I think that would be ideal, but a lot of it depends on when the sponsors want to play and when we can secure the golf course,” she said.
“We don’t have the luxury of the PGA Tour saying, ‘We’re going to pay you X amount of dollars to play this week.’ We just don’t have the money to spend.
“We’re at the mercy of our sponsors. We’re at the mercy of the golf courses, and that’s the nature of where we are. Do we want to get better? Yeah, absolutely. I think our team works like crazy behind the scenes, but we’re a global tour, and I want to be competing against the best players every week.
“Then you have to play in Thailand, because there are players from Thailand. You’ll play in Korea, because there are players from Korea. I think that’s the essence. I think it’s more of a global tour. If you play on the LPGA Tour, that’s what you signed up for.”
World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who won six of seven tournaments from January to May, including the Chevron Championship, has earned more than $3 million in prize money this year.
That gave her the luxury of skipping the Asian swing entirely, which she took a seven-week break from earlier this year, and which was sandwiched between her winning streak. But even the two-time major winner had to withdraw from the JM Eagle LA Championship in April, complaining of fatigue.
Nelly Korda has taken frequent weeks off this season, a luxury not every LPGA pro can afford. (Michael Reeves/Getty Images)
Lexi Thompson announced in May that she would retire at the end of the season at age 29, sparking conversations about the mental and physical demands of the LPGA Tour.
She has spoken of how “lonely” and all-consuming life on tour has been since she first competed in the US Open at age 12, but believes there are ways to lessen the burden.
“It’s definitely the schedule,” Thompson said. “I think every trip has its benefits. I think the flow of the schedule could be better. Certain events can be held close together. We travel a lot overseas, but it’s a global tour, so that comes with it, and we’re very fortunate with our sponsors overseas.
“After the announcement, a little bit of the weight was lifted off my shoulders. I had it in my head for years, so no one really knew and I didn’t know what would happen.”
Catriona Mathew won her only major at the 2009 Open, at Royal Lytham & St Annes, just 11 weeks after giving birth. Now 54 and playing her last home tournament, Mathew is not sure how she has fared on tour with two children in tow in the years since.
It takes tremendous resilience to keep chasing another major in a field where Lewis believes he has a 60 per cent chance of winning.
Lydia Ko is hoping to end her eight-and-a-half-year major drought this week, but the Australian, who won gold in Paris, is getting a lot of attention as she becomes the 35th woman to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
She remains the youngest woman ever to win on the LPGA Tour after winning at age 15, but 12 years later, she is immediately realistic about how much longer she is willing to push through the back pain she feels every morning and whether she will be able to bring forward her planned retirement at age 30.
“It’s scary in some ways because I’ve been playing golf since I was 5,” Ko said.
“This is my life. Love it or hate it. Golf has given me a lot to be thankful for, both on and off the golf course.
“I’m very grateful that we get to do what we love and compete at a high level, but I think there’s another side to it. As someone who’s closer to that point in his career than he was when he was a rookie, you realize all of that and have a lot of respect for the decisions that the players make.”
There are still players who are trying to break into the major leagues, most notably England’s Charlie Hull, who has shown the mentality needed to cope with a relentless schedule despite a recent shoulder injury.
“I have been getting acupuncture every other day because my shoulder is a little sore,” she said. “It can be a little difficult when it’s cold.”
“I also have osteoarthritis, so when it gets cold I get a little stiff. I just try to keep warm.
“Other than that, I’m healthy and ready to go.”
(Above photo: Luke Walker / Getty Images)
