HOUSTON – The same day Stacy Lewis had surgery to fuse a metal rod and five screws into her spine, the medical team asked her to get out of the hospital bed and make her way to the bathroom. Lewis didn’t say anything, but she did give them an are-you-crazy kind of look. When she’d shuffled about halfway across the room, her father, Dale, noticed a tear fall down her face, and that was it.
Out in the hallway, Dale sat down next to a window and sent up a prayer, asking God for two things: 1) that she never have to wear a back brace for the rest of her life and 2) that she play college golf.
That second one, he admits, might have been a little greedy.
One year later, in September 2004, Lewis teed it up for the University of Arkansas at a tournament in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Dale cried again.
“We weren't sure she'd ever do that,” said Dale, walking down 10th hole at Memorial Park on a cloudy Friday afternoon at the Chevron Championship, six weeks removed from knee surgery.
And what a bonus it has been: 13 LPGA titles, two majors, two Solheim Cup captaincies, an NCAA championship, two LPGA Player of the Year titles, two scoring titles, 25 runner-up finishes and nearly $15 million in career earnings.
As Nelly Korda rocketed up the board to a seven-shot lead at the Chevron, Lewis, a woman who helped make much of what Korda and her peers enjoy today possible, closed out her LPGA career at the major that berthed the dream nearly 20 years ago.
Now four months pregnant with her second child, 41-year-old Lewis had husband Gerrod Chadwell caddie for her this week, but it was Chadwell who insisted that Dale take the bag for the final walk up the 18th.
“One more time,” said a teary-eyed Dale as he put on the bib and headed to the tee.
Dale was on the bag for much of Lewis’ amateur career, including the 2007 Kraft Nabisco, where she played in the final round with eventual champion Morgan Pressel. That’s when Lewis first realized that she might be able to play this game for a living.
Four years later, she took down No. 1 Yani Tseng at Mission Hills for her first LPGA title.
It’s easy to look at Lewis’ Hall of Fame-worthy career and forget that she even had scoliosis, wearing a back brace for 18 hours a day. But that would be wrong. There hasn’t been a day of her career that she didn’t plan around or think about her back.
“I just think back to the kid in high school wearing a back brace and being told I have to have surgery, to 25-plus years later to still be playing golf, to be doing it at this level to have accomplished what I did, I mean, it's really kind of a fairytale,” said Lewis.
“I don't think anyone would've predicted any of this.”
There was a bright bouquet of flowers waiting for Lewis when she finished, as members of the “Lew Crew” gathered behind the 18th green.
As Stacy climbed to No. 1 in the world, Dale and Carol weren’t sure if their shy middle child would have much influence beyond the scores, but she flourished in that role too, sitting on boards, attracting sponsors, changing policy and working hard to preserve history.
“You can make change happen,” said Lewis, adding “keep giving back to the fans and to our sponsors and never stop saying thank you. I just don't think we can ever say thank you enough.”
That goes for her parents, too. The longer she played on tour, the more Lewis began to see how fortunate she was to have parents who supported but never pushed. When she asked for more space, she got it.
On Friday, the tears came for Lewis on the 18th when she looked over at her dad. This is the first time since 1999 that Dale hasn’t planned a travel schedule around Stacy’s golf. In some ways, he’s retiring too.
But that’s not to say they don’t have plans. Should the USGA decide to lower the age limit for the U.S Senior Women’s Open to 45, which is being discussed, Lewis would be eligible for the one in 2030, staged at Spyglass.