When Stacy Lewis takes time to reflect on her many golf accomplishments, she can still picture a 105-pound teenager in Houston struggling to break 80 and trying to hide a back brace.
Lewis grew up with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. The golf course became her sanctuary because doctors allowed her to play without the brace.
“I hated that brace. I hated that thing,” Lewis said during a recent interview with The Denver Post. “I’d get in so many fights with my mother. She could hear the Velcro from anywhere in the house. She’d yell, ‘Put your brace back on!’ I didn’t want to, but I knew I had to do it.”
Lewis, 28, helps lead the U.S. squad into the Solheim Cup matches this week at Colorado Golf Club in Parker. She is coming off a victory in the Women’s British Open a week ago. In March, she reached No. 1 in the women’s Rolex World Ranking (she has since dropped to No. 2, behind South Korea’s Inbee Park). She could become the first ever to be named the world’s best while playing with a rod and five screws stabilizing her spine.
Lewis had surgery after her senior year of high school and was relieved to hear that Arkansas coach Kelley Hester would still honor a scholarship offer.
“Going through what I did, a rod and screws, this (success) isn’t supposed to happen,” Lewis said. “It’s not something that I would have wished on any kid. But it made me persevere. I learned to deal with adversity. It shows on the golf course. When things don’t go my way, that’s when I play best.”
Lewis said her condition wasn’t painful, but doctors had told her that without the operation she might not be able to get out of bed by the time she reached middle age. And Lewis was overjoyed to not be wearing a brace for up to 18 hours a day, which she’d had to do for 7 ½ years.
A funny thing happened after the surgery. Perhaps because of her bent spine, Lewis grew up hitting a low hook. After the operation, her swing became more upright and her natural ball flight featured a fade.
The operation also led to a personality change for Lewis, who grew up painfully shy, even into her college years.
“I think that brace was part of it,” Lewis said of her shyness. “I didn’t want anybody to know about it. I didn’t want to let anybody know that I even had a problem. I didn’t want to be different. As a kid especially, you don’t want to be seen as different.”
Now, she’s viewed as “our poster child” for giving interviews and speaking to the cameras, LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said.
“I was never one to want to do public speaking,” Lewis said. “I definitely had to grow and come out of that. I’ve had to work at it. It’s not something that comes naturally.”
There was another blessing in disguise from her back problems. After the surgery, Lewis hit the gym. Doctors told her that strengthening other parts of her body would help protect her back. With the added strength, Lewis soon gained an additional 25 yards off the tee. She began working with Nashville, Tenn.-based swing coach Joe Hallett, who got Lewis to use more of her body on the full swing.
“That’s when things started to turn around,” he said.
“When I got to college, I barely weighed 100 pounds and I hit it nowhere,” she said.
Never known as a long hitter, she nevertheless ranks 23rd among LPGA Tour players in average driving distance (258.6 yards) this year.
Lewis also honed her short game while redshirting her freshman year at Arkansas to allow her back to heal. All she could do for much of that year was chip and putt. The final piece was learning a technique to read greens. It all came together when she reached No. 1 in the world ranking by winning the Founders Cup in Phoenix on March 18.
“You know, it didn’t really settle in for a few days,” Lewis said. “It was kind of like, ‘All right. I’m No. 1 in the world. Now what do I do?’
“You just go back to what you’re doing. You have more obligations, with sponsors, with the media. But you don’t really feel any different. I don’t think you’re a different person.”
The significance did not go unnoticed, however. Solheim Cup teammate Cristie Kerr became No. 1 in the world ranking in 2010 at three different points.
“I was close to being player of the year in 2010 and just couldn’t get over that edge,” Kerr said. “To have Stacy accomplish that, I think it will just inspire Americans to rise up and play better. I think it’s going to be great for junior girls golf to have Stacy as somebody to look up to.”
Lewis looks forward to the Solheim Cup and the ups and downs of match play.
“I always play better when my back is against the wall,” Lewis said.
With a straight posture, she might add.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280, tkensler@denverpost.com or
Ticket information
Practice rounds (Tuesday-Thursday): $37 per day (gates open at 7 a.m.; practice rounds start at 8)
Match play (Friday-Sunday): $67 per day
Week pass: $127
Juniors: 17 and younger free
Info: or call 1-800-2SOLHEIM
Tee to green with envy
A look at the career highlights for Stacy Lewis, who ascended to the No. 1 world ranking in March:
Won the Women’s British Open, RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup and HSBC Women’s Champions tournaments this year.
LPGA player of the year, 2012 (first American winner in 18 years).
Won Mizuno Classic, Navistar LPGA Classic, ShopRite LPGA Classic and Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in 2012.
U.S. Solheim Cup team member, 2011 and 2013.
Winner, LPGA Qualifying School 2008 by three strokes.
Placed third in U.S. Women’s Open in 2008, her first event as a pro.
Fifth in Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007, playing as an amateur.
Won NCAA championship in 2007; four-time All-American at Arkansas.
