Even though Stacy Lewis is pretty much a through-and-through Texan nowadays, the fans in Sylvania, Ohio will always turn out in droves to support the Toledo-born major champion.
“I had a good crowd again, lots of family members back out,” said Lewis. “I always get a ton of support here, and they definitely claim me around here.”
Lewis has been giving her hometown crowd plenty to cheer for at this year’s Dana Open, carding rounds of 67-70-67 over the first three days at Highland Meadows Golf Club to sit in a tie for ninth with one round to play in the Buckeye State.
Thursday’s first round saw Lewis make three bogeys and seven birdies, four of which came in her last five holes as she birdied 14, 15 and 16 before grabbing one last birdie on the par-5 18th hole to post an opening 67. The 4-under effort was her lowest 18-hole score on the LPGA Tour since Lewis shot a 67 in the final round of the 2023 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro and was her lowest first-round score since she opened with a 67 at the 2022 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.
“I’m really excited. It's probably the most number of birdies I’ve made in a round in a very long time. It's nice to see a little bit of progress,” said Lewis on Thursday. “I took the last two weeks off, so I definitely feel a little bit more refreshed. I worked on some things last week, and I've been working on it for the last few months, so I’ve been hoping for a day like this for a while. Hopefully, things are coming together a little bit.”
Friday was quieter for the 13-time LPGA Tour winner, who made three bogeys and just four birdies to sit in a share of 13th at 5-under overall at the end of the second round. But Lewis took full advantage of Moving Day at the Dana Open, carding another 4-under 67 on Saturday to move into the top 10 with 18 holes to play in Sylvania, Ohio.
Lewis got off to a strong start on her front nine, grabbing a birdie on the par-4 3rd hole before picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-3 8th and par-4 9th holes to turn in 31 at 8-under overall. She then went bogey-birdie on holes 11 and 12, carding her last birdie of the round on the par-4 15th hole to post another 67 and sit at 9-under for the tournament, ultimately finding herself in a three-way tie for ninth, seven shots back of 54-hole leader Chanettee Wannasaen.
“I played the front nine actually really well,” said Lewis. “We were talking last night that I think the front nine plays harder on this golf course. So got off to a really good start and kind of kept it going with the birdies on 8 and 9. I just played solid all day. Would've loved to have had one of those last two putts there, either the one on 17 or 18. All in all, just solid. Going to have to go shoot a really good one tomorrow.”
This week marks Lewis’ 18th start at the Dana Open, and in her 17 previous appearances, she has collected seven top-15 finishes, the best of which is a solo third that came in 2019 and the most recent of which is a tie for ninth that came in 2021. She’s playing in her 13th event of the 2024 LPGA Tour season in Ohio, and this is just the fourth time she’s played the weekend this year, having missed nine cuts so far this season.
But Lewis has had a lot more than competitive golf on her mind in 2024.
Lewis is once again serving as captain for the U.S. Solheim Cup team, first doing so last year at Finca Cortesin in Andalucia, Spain. The 18th playing of the Solheim Cup ended with the Americans and Europeans tied with 14 points each, the first-ever tie in the history of the biennial team competition. Team Europe ultimately retained the Cup for the third consecutive playing of the event.
It's no secret that Lewis is as hungry as ever to bring the Solheim Cup back to American soil, and she will have another opportunity to captain her team to victory this September at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, Washington D.C.
With just over 50 days until the first tee shots are struck at the 19th Solheim Cup, the home-team captain has plenty of details to finish shoring up, most importantly finalizing her American squad after the conclusion of the AIG Women’s Open. Numerous names who didn’t compete in Spain have now thrown their hats into the ring for consideration, and some of those new faces are even trying to earn one of nine automatic qualifying spots determined by U.S. Solheim Cup points and position in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
It's likely that Lewis will have some tough decisions to make as the end of the qualification period nears, and you can be sure those three captain’s picks will be weighing on her mind over the next month as she watches how things ultimately shake out for the American Solheim Cup hopefuls.
But that’s a future Stacy Lewis problem.
For now, Lewis is solely focused on taking advantage of this latest opportunity to be in contention at the Dana Open and has just one goal in mind for Sunday’s final round, even sitting seven shots behind – finishing at the top of the leaderboard.
“Hopefully, (I will) just get off to a really good start, and you can maybe free things up a little on the back nine and try to make some birdies,” said Lewis. “Definitely go make a run. I'm in a position where you can post a number and see what happens. We've seen crazier things happen on 17 and 18 throughout the years here, so go try to post a number and hopefully, it's enough.”
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