Stacy Lewis captains U.S. Team to Solheim Cup victory
KPMG ambassador leads Americans to first Solheim Cup victory since 2017
Congratulations to KPMG ambassador Stacy Lewis on leading the U.S. team to a dramatic victory at the 2024 Solheim Cup. With a final score of 15.5 to 12.5, the U.S. team ended a seven-year drought and reclaimed the Solheim Cup for the first time since 2017.
This victory was extra sweet. As the captain of the U.S. team in 2023, where the U.S. and Europe played to a 14-14 tie, Lewis carried a sense of unfinished business into 2024, and the U.S. team responded. The Americans flew out of the gates over the first two days of the competition, carrying a 10-6 lead into the Sunday singles competition. Despite a valiant effort from the Europeans, who put a lot of points on the board early on Sunday, the U.S. team prevailed, securing a few crucial half points down the stretch en route to a three-point victory.
"In Spain, it didn't really hit me until I got on the airplane, and all of a sudden I started crying," Lewis said. "We did all that work to play to a tie. From that point on, it was right back to work because I didn't want that to happen again. There were parts of this journey that were hard - it was busy, it was frustrating at times, but that's part of it. To watch them celebrate was really special. We're going to enjoy the moment and celebrate."
Throughout the last 2.5 years in her role as captain, Lewis took a different approach than any of her predecessors. Stacy turned to KPMG Performance Insights to help guide her decision making as captain. From AI-powered predictive analytics to analysis of previous Solheim Cups and venues, Lewis and the KPMG Performance Insights team worked together by using the data to help determine pairings, orders and other lineup-related aspects of the overall team strategy. Advanced performance analytics had never been used at the Solheim Cup before Lewis became captain. It now has potential to be a staple of the team strategy for years to come.
"I loved our pairings at the beginning of the week, and you just have to hope that the right people play well to make it work," Lewis said. "We know what works, and I think I've got the buy-in now from this team."
It's been an incredible ride for Lewis as captain, who now joins a group of three women ever in Solheim Cup history to captain multiple teams without suffering a loss (1-0-1). It's a tremendous accomplishment, but in Lewis' eyes, the mission was pretty simple.
"The job was to get the cup, and we finished the job."
Job well done, Captain.