PORTLAND CLASSIC

August 30, 2023

Stacy Lewis

Columbia Edgewater Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, Stacy Lewis, welcome to the Portland Classic media center. Obviously it's been a really busy couple of weeks for you, but I want to ask about your captain's picks and qualifiers, and your team is all put together.

How are you feeling now that you have your full team ready to go?

STACY LEWIS: It's coming way too fast. It's great though. I mean, just to finally have the team ready or the team finalized, you know who the 12 are. Now it's logistics to make sure they get their flights and caddie's flights. You feel like you almost have more kids now that you're tracking down trying to make sure they do everything they need to do.

I guess that's going to be my life for the next month or so, so I need to get used to that part. But now we're going to dive into pairings and really start to get more organized for the week of.

Q. I was just going to ask, now that you have your picks done and your team finalized, what's the next steps for you as far as getting ready for the event besides the logistics?

STACY LEWIS: Besides logistics, it's now really pairings and trying to prepare the girls as best I can as far as who they'll potentially play with, get them golf balls that they need to try that they can kind of mess around with over the next few weeks.

That's been my goal all along, is before we get on the plane to go over that the girls really have an idea of what the plan is, and so that once we get to Spain it's just executing that plan instead of trying to figure it out on the fly.

Q. For the next two weeks of play before Solheim, what are you looking for from the girls on your team?

STACY LEWIS: Just form really, of how they're playing, who is playing well, maybe who is not. Because I think that factors into how much they play, how many formats -- which formats they play. It does factor into who they play with as well.

So, yeah, we'll be watching and paying attention, and hopefully the ones that aren't playing well can get some momentum going the right way, and the ones that are playing well, they can gain some more confidence and maybe get another American win.

Q. Since we're at the Portland Classic, you're a past champion here, what are you looking for for yourself this week, maybe not Solheim related?

STACY LEWIS: I'm looking forward to about four or five hours of no phone and quiet time and just playing golf.

You know, I have been working on some things in my golf swing the last few days in between all the chaos that I'm excited about, and just to be back here and where I've had good memories, I played well here, golf course is amazing as always.

So it's not 110 like it is in Texas either, so there is a lot of pluses about being here right now, and excited to be here again.

Q. How are you keeping track of everything?

STACY LEWIS: I don't know. I have a planner. I write everything down. I have this thing it's called a Remarkable where you can put all my notes in there. Just trying to stay organized.

That's how I've always been my whole life, but this is ramped up to another level. You know, just trying to be where I am and take care of what needs to be taken care of, and then put off until tomorrow what doesn't happen.

Q. Of all the things that you're trying to sort through, what's been the hardest to stay on top of?

STACY LEWIS: My own golf game probably, my own life. Obviously you can tell with my voice. Probably taking care of myself and making sure I'm getting enough sleep and enough rest at times. That's probably the one thing that is slipping.

But I feel like we're doing a really good job staying on top of things, so I don't know. I just saw Juli Inkster and she's like, are you glad that's over with? I was like, it really wasn't that hard. Like we were prepared for it. We were ready.

I don't know. Parts of it, yes, they were hard, but the decision was very clear and easy in my head.

Q. What are you working on in your swing?

STACY LEWIS: Trying to get my legs going a little more on the golf swing and not swinging it so much with my arms, and just trying to use the bigger muscles a little bit more.

Q. You mentioned a lot throughout this process of how important it is to have the team prepared before you get there. Other than past Solheim experiences you've had where the team was not, and how did that impact the team?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, gosh, I think back to my first Solheim in Ireland, and I had no clue what I was getting myself into.

You know, even in Toledo I think there was a lot of who is going to play with who and figuring out what golf ball you're going to play on Tuesday. I think stuff like that can be done well in advance. That way the girls can just get there and learn the golf course first.

I mean, that's what they're accustomed to doing. I want it to be -- those preparation days to be most like what they do in a normal week. You throw them into, here, try this golf ball and learn this new golf course when you don't even know how your normal golf ball reacts on that golf course.

So it's just trying to make it more normal for them. I'm a person, I'm prepared. That's me by nature.

Q. It's been a couple days since Monday when you officially announced the team. What has the reaction been like for you? What you've seen from friends, from past Solheim Cup participants? Have they reached out? What are some of the biggest things you've seen on the past couple days since finally getting this relief off your shoulders of your entire team?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, people love the team we've assembled obviously. They loved how we did it. I think that was pretty cool. Everybody liked the way we did the photoshoot and all that stuff.

You know, just I mean, to me, I think the biggest thing that happened was the way Andrea played to make the team. I just don't think it was talked about enough. We talked about the picks a lot, but I mean, the way Andrea played the last month, I mean, she was very far out of the picture, and two Top 10s to having the finish 13th and finishing 13th, I mean, it's insane.

It's crazy pressure to play under. I just don't think people realize the amount of pressure you play with. You sit there and you play and you're like, oh, I'm in 11th. Oh, I'm in 5th. Now I'm back to 12th.

It's just so, so hard, and so I mean, I think of anything that came out of last week, I just think what Andrea did was amazing.

Q. I think what was also unique is we talked a little bit before in your pre-tournament press conference last week about looking at your players and how you are really just picking your team based on the research you've done. Last week you played with a player like Linn Grant; Megan Khang went up against Linn Grant, very close. What was it like seeing the American players when they are playing in groups with some European players and what you're going to see come September? Megan said she told Jack beforehand, ohhh, got a little Solheim feel to it in that grouping on Saturday.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, you can tell everybody -- it's on everybody's mind. You had some caddies kind of like, oh, I can't talk to you right now. It's Solheim Cup time.

And so it's on everybody's mind. It was fun. I never played with Linn. I hadn't really seen her play very much before, so it was fun to see her play in person.

You know, I put any of mine up against her, too. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting, right? The way we do things you're not really matching people up head-to-head. It's just how it kind of falls.

So you're not really watching the other team that much, which makes it easier to be honest.

Q. You mentioned how impressive Megan was last week. Did she have to play her way onto the team?

STACY LEWIS: She did. She did. You know, we had the conversation of if she gets within one shot -- you know, say she was one shot short of making it. You know, was that going to change our mind?

I mean, because if she didn't make it on her own I was going to have to pick between two players. Fortunately we never even got to have that conversation. I don't know who I would've picked because we never got there.

THE MODERATOR: Stacy, we're really excited and we can all feel the momentum building.

STACY LEWIS: Yes, that's great.

THE MODERATOR: Last question is how exciting is it? How much fun are you having with this? I know it's a lot, but what's the excitement and the fun like?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I love it. I love it. I've loved every part of I guess it's almost a year and a half now. I've loved ever part of it. I love the Solheim Cup. I loved playing in it. It was super stressful but I've honestly loved the captain's side even more.

Just to be able to put your spin on everything and put my energy, the way I do things into the Solheim Cup, and hopefully it works out correctly, and then hopefully that translates into the future.

THE MODERATOR: Awesome. We're looking forward to it. Thank you so much.

STACY LEWIS: Thank you.