SYLVANIA, Ohio – Stacy Lewis walked off the 18th green at the Marathon LPGA Classic feeling good about her day but still shaking her head.
“It should’ve been about a 60,” said Lewis, who closed with a 6-under 65 at Highland Meadows to vault into the top 10.
It wasn’t all too long ago that 35-year-old Lewis wondered how many more years she’d be able to compete. A rib injury sidelined the 12-time winner prior to maternity leave for daughter Chesnee and again at the 2019 Solheim Cup, forcing her to withdraw.
Was the woman who rose to No. 1 in the world with a metal rod and five screws in her back due to scoliosis going to be forced out earlier than desired?
Lewis and husband Gerrod Chadwell, head women’s golf coach at Houston, started scouring the internet for video of her swing from 2012. Chadwell noticed her posture back then was a lot taller than it has been in recent years.
“I think I had gotten just really bent over because that’s more of the modern swing,” said Lewis. “Come to find out I couldn’t do that. … my back can’t function that way.”
Marathon LPGA Classic scores | LPGA schedule
Lewis’ physios back home in Houston confirmed it.
“They are the ones that helped me get my body back in shape,” she said of the adjustments that have helped keep the inflammation out of her joints.
“Now I feel like I’ve been reenergized,” she said of playing pain-free.
The Marathon is a somewhat of a home event for Lewis as her dad’s side of the family resides in the area. With no spectators allowed this year, however, it’s a different vibe. No “Lew Crew” shirts on the course, but her mom and dad were allowed to follow along as every player was allowed two guest passes.
“My cousins have had kids now, so the crew is growing,” she said. “I would say we’re probably in the 20 to 25 range. But it’s my dad’s whole side of the family, so they’re all immediate family, all cousins.
“They have gotten married and had kids of their own. Just getting together for dinners and hanging out. That’s really all we can do. Let Chesnee go play with them and play with their dogs and things like that.”
Lewis will now head solo on the LPGA’s charter flight to back-to-back tournaments in Scotland, including the year’s first major, the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon. All players and caddies who were scheduled for the charter were tested for COVID-19 on Thursday. All tests came back negative.
Lewis, the 2013 Women’s British Open champion, and her longtime coach, Joe Hallett, spent time early in the week working on shots she’ll need for links-style golf.
Spectators aren’t allowed at both events in Scotland – the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open and Women’s British. No parents or coaches either. Lewis wonders if that might give more experienced players the advantage at Troon.
There are risks going overseas in these times. But the charter flights there and back helped Lewis feel safe about her decision.
“But it’s Troon,” said Lewis, “and it’s a place that as a tour we’ve never played and women historically have had a hard time even playing there in general, so it’s something that I want to be a part of. I wanted to play the golf course more than anything.”
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