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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 27, 2018

Stacy Lewis

Kildeer, Illinois

THE MODERATOR: Here with world No. 31 and proud KPMG ambassador, right on the hat, Stacy Lewis. Stacy is a 12-time LPGA winner, including two majors, the 2011 ANA Inspiration, 2013 Ricoh Women's British Open. Competing in her 11th event of the LPGA season, and this is also her 10th timer here at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship with a best finish of tied for second in 2012.

I want to start out with your KPMG relationship. Earlier this year when you announced your pregnancy you talked about how much they have been a support for you throughout this process. Talk to us about KPMG, your relationship with them, but what it means for women's athletics and women's golf as a greater whole.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, you know, my time with KPMG has been unbelievable. I think you guys can see it this week in what they've done with this tournament over the last four years and just making it into, I think, the best major that we have from all aspects.

Me personally, they've done a ton to support me and now my family, too, and I just couldn't be more thankful. It's just cool how this idea that myself and John Veihmeyer kind of concocted turned into all of this and how it's gotten better every year. They really value my opinion and what I think, and things that I think we need to improve on, it's better for the next year. It's just cool to have that input and to really make this the best major that we have.

THE MODERATOR: From KPMG to marathon to Wal-Mart of some of our larger corporations that sponsor the LPGA, a lot of it seems to come back to you. What has been your interest in the business side of things? That's something to me that is really fascinating.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I think as a player it's our job to make sure that this Tour continues to be in a great place, and I don't have a problem talking to a sponsor about hosting a tournament or sponsoring a player or whatever it is. I just think that it's our job to give back to this game and make our Tour better. I've been fortunate to be a part of -- I guess you can see them on me, but part of a couple of them, and what my sponsors have been able to do is pretty unbelievable, and it shows their faith that they have in me and belief that this Tour deserves better and can get better.

Q. We hear this is a fabulous major venue. You've been out for more than 18 holes now. Tell us your thoughts on Kemper Lakes as we get ready to tee it up tomorrow.
STACY LEWIS: I honestly love the golf course. Visually it shapes a lot of shots for you. You step up on a tee and you see whether you need a draw or whether you need a fade, tree-lined, which I love. I think it's going to be a really great test. Didn't want all that rain we had last night, but other than that, I think it's going to dry out fine and be a great championship. I love the look of it, and I think it's going to play hard. I think those last -- there's like three or four holes that are probably some of the hardest finishing holes we've had in a long time. I always love a good par-4 finish, and we definitely have that this week.

Q. Lynn, the CEO of KPMG, said that you had a videotaped message that's playing at the Women's Executive Summit, and I believe the message was basically like to push for better or for equal. Can you just summarize it for those of us who won't get to see it?
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, the whole summit itself is based upon pushing women to be better and pushing us to raise the bar for each other. That's really what the entire summit and this week is about is -- I mean, my greatest hope is that my daughter when she's 18 and 20 years old doesn't have to talk about making the same amount of money as her brother or her friend would. That's my greatest hope, and that's what we're trying to change this week. We're trying to change the way women are thought about in the business world, the way they're thought about in the athletics field. I mean, that's what this week is about.

Q. Following up on that, it's not just KPMG paying your whole contract, there's a discussion on the tennis tour about whether Serena Williams and other moms should be seeded when they come back. What kind of sea change, or are we seeing a sea change in the way that women are being looked at in athletics and taking kind of charge of how they're being treated?
STACY LEWIS: Well, I think as far as the maternity policies, I think ours is pretty good on the Tour, but I definitely hope with what KPMG decided to do, I hope it changes the way contracts are written, that that is already included in there, where it doesn't have to come from a CEO or whoever is making all the decisions. Just for women in general, because I think there's a lot of women on this Tour that you basically have to say, I'm willing to give up all of my income this year to have a baby, and that's a hard decision to make for a lot of people. I'm fortunate that I'm not in that position, but there's a lot of girls that -- if they don't have income and they don't have their status next year, that's a big deal.

I hope it changes things. I hope it changes the way contracts are written more than anything.

Q. Beyond the financial component, women have faced a lot of stigmas just being pregnant and working any job but in athletics. Then we see Serena playing and you, and there's been some marathon runners; do you feel like that part is changing, too?
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I think as you get older, as athletes, you kind of -- you've been so focused and driven in what you want to accomplish, and then there's kind of that family component that kicks in in the back of your mind. You wonder how you can balance them all. It's just with the way -- the money that we're able to make and the way that policies are written, it makes it easier for us to have families and to do it -- to do it while we're playing. I want my kids, even though they may not ever remember it, I want them to know that they were a part of my career. I don't want to retire and then have kids. I want to do it all at the same time, and I want to show that it can be done, that it's not such a bad thing, because really in the last I'd say 10 years we haven't had a lot of that on the LPGA Tour.

Q. Obviously you guys play a global tour, and I know you're thinking ahead. What are your thoughts about traveling with a child on the global tour that you have?
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, it's going to be one of those things that we figure out as we go. I feel like that's kind of been my answer to everything as far as with the baby is -- everybody asks how are you going to travel, how are you going to play, and honestly, I don't know. I'm going to do the best I can. I want to play as much as I can. How much the baby travels with me internationally is going to depend on a lot of factors. But I don't know, that's going to be honestly the hardest part. But the way our schedule is now, we have a lot more events in the U.S. and maybe just put a lot of my focus there and limit the overseas stuff, which I'm completely okay doing.

Q. Whose brains have you picked in that sphere because even Juli didn't have the international component? And if you hadn't had the KPMG contract, would you have been struggling more with the idea of can I become pregnant at this time?
STACY LEWIS: I'll answer your second one first. No, I never -- I honestly never thought about the money part of it. I really just wanted to have a family. But there was a lot of thoughts this year of I need to make sure I'm playing good, trying to play as good as I can. There was some pressure there to make sure you can cover expenses and pay for your caddie and all that kind of stuff, which I had never really had to think about before. So what KPMG did just made all of that easier, and it took a lot of the pressure off for me trying to play right now.

Well, I asked Juli, and she said, I don't remember, it was too long ago. I talked to Karen Stupples a little bit about it, and she didn't have quite as much international travel, as well. We just talked about getting the baby on a sleep schedule, and when you've got those -- if you have a delay you don't finish until 7:00 or 8:00 at night, just kind of those kind of challenges to it. But every time you end a conversation with a mom, they just say, it's all worth it, and it's the greatest thing ever. It's not even -- it's just something you deal with and you move on.

Q. How did that conversation with KPMG come about? Did they approach you about the contract or did you go to them, and what was the response with your other sponsors, and did they do something similar?
STACY LEWIS: I actually told -- we actually told KPMG at the Masters, when we saw them at the Masters, what was happening, and they called us about a week later and said, this is what we want to do. We never even brought it up. Lynn just decided that -- they've felt from the get-go that I'm a part of their company. I'm a part of what they do, and they wanted to treat me like that. It 100 percent came from them.

My other sponsors we told them about, I had a couple others step up, as well. It was more of like a, wow, I haven't thought of that before. It was kind of one of those things nobody has ever thought about more than anything. KPMG just kind of got everybody's attention and got people thinking, which is what we want.

Q. Just looking ahead to this weekend, what parts of your game have you felt really good about, and are there some areas that you're hoping to really tune up before tomorrow?
STACY LEWIS: Well, actually I'm excited about the way I've been hitting the ball. Last week was probably the best ball-striking week I've had all year, so I'm excited about that. Just had a couple things with putting to shore up. But I'm excited about where I'm at. I'm just trying to manage the energy level and not do too much on these Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and just really be fresh for tomorrow.

Q. What kind of response or what kind of reaction have you gotten from other players? Has anybody said, hey, thanks for doing this or thanks for bringing this into the spotlight? And going along with that, it's 2018; can you believe that this is finally being talked about?
STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people were shocked to learn that that had never happened before. Players that were, that are moms and have kids, they thought it was the greatest thing ever, just because they had been in my position before and they know what that feels like. They just thought it was -- I mean, they thought it was unbelievable. But at the same time, it was, well, why don't they do that. More than anything, it brought attention to it, and that's the goal, and that's why I put it out there. I didn't necessarily want to put it out there, but the more I thought about it, I was like, this could bring about some change, and we need to get it out there.

THE MODERATOR: We just had an Olympians' panel over at the leadership summit; you, of course are a proud Olympian, and the tag line for this is "inspire greatness." Clearly you are inspiring greatness with what you're doing right now. Who or what inspired the greatness in you?

STACY LEWIS: For me, my biggest inspiration has always been my college coaches. They honestly -- I don't know what they saw in me, but they saw something in me to push me to the next level. They saw that I could be better than everybody else. They saw that -- I don't know, it was just the way they went about things at practice. They held me to a higher standard, and I've always been very appreciative of that. I don't know why they ever did that, but they definitely inspired me to be a professional athlete and to do what I'm doing.

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