Stacy Lewis is ready to stop grinding over 8-footers.
Leslie Plaza Johnson, Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
HOUSTON, TEXAS | Stacy Lewis wiped a few tears from her face Friday as she left the 18th green at Memorial Park Golf Course after finishing the second round of the Chevron Championship, but she wasn’t the only one getting emotional.
The two-time major champion, who announced last fall that the 2025 season would be her last, came back for one last go-round in her hometown, in part to allow her parents and other family members one more chance to watch her compete.
“I had a few tears inside myself,” said her father, Dale Lewis, who carried her bag for the final hole, taking it from her husband, Gerrod Chadwell. “This was full circle for us, carrying her bag in [Houston] and thinking she might be able to do this full time.”
“I probably shouldn’t have looked at my dad," Lewis said. “I guess my emotions are probably a lot different than [my parents’]. They’re probably a little bit more sad, where I’m just ready. I’m ready for the next chapter and ready to stop grinding over 8-footers.”
The former University of Arkansas standout missed the cut after rounds of 79-77, but that did not dim a career that included major victories at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship (the precursor to the Chevron Championship) and the 2013 Ricoh Women’s British Open at St. Andrews among 13 LPGA titles. Lewis, who overcame childhood scoliosis, rose to No. 1 in the world in 2013 and 2014, was a two-time LPGA Player of the Year (2012, ’14) and twice captained the U.S. Solheim Cup team (2023, ’24).
Lewis, who is four months pregnant with her second child, threw out the first pitch at the Houston Astros baseball game Saturday night and planned to take her son to school on Monday.
For those already missing Lewis in professional golf, her father suggested there might still be chances to see her play.
“She said she’s retiring, but I still think she will play some,” he said. “I hope so.”
When the LPGA announced in January that the Chevron Championship would move to Memorial Park from its former home, the Club at Carlton Woods, it was suggested that the new venue’s proximity to downtown Houston would make it easy for fans to attend the tournament. But after the first edition at Memorial Park it’s clear there is still plenty of work to do to attract fans.
Although the tournament did not release attendance figures, the crowds for the LPGA’s first major of the season were sparse. For instance, when world No. 2 Nelly Korda took a five-stroke lead to the ninth tee on a pleasant, overcast Friday, there were approximately 50 fans scattered around the par-3 hole next to the clubhouse along with a handful of media members.
Another pairing that included popular American Lexi Thompson drew only about 30 people. The paltry turnout was especially glaring given the tens of thousands who attended the PGA Tour’s Texas Children’s Houston Open last month at the same venue.
“We want more people to come out and see us, but sometimes it takes time in a new venue,” said competitor Lindy Duncan, who praised the setup at the Tom Doak-redesigned public layout.
With the Astros Golf Foundation heavily involved in both the Houston Open and the Chevron Championship, among the ideas being discussed is perhaps selling a combo ticket for both events or using one to market the other.
The biggest pre-tournament talking point was the new temporary swimming pool installed to the right of the 18th hole to continue the tradition of the Chevron Championship winner jumping into the water to celebrate victory.
The 4½-foot deep pool cost the title sponsor a reported $100,000, and there are plans to replace it with a large, permanent lake in time for the 2027 tournament.
While the new pool is no comparison to Poppie’s Pond at longtime tournament home Mission Hills Country Club in California and drew scorn from some online, many players jumped to its defense.
“Once you kill a tradition, it’s killed forever,” Korda said. “If you kind of look at it maybe some people don’t like it, that it’s at a different golf course, different venue. I still give props to Chevron and the LPGA for wanting to keep that tradition alive.”
“I don’t remember a whole lot about getting the trophy when I won [the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills], but I do remember jumping into the water and how cold that California water was,” added Lewis.
Five of the eight amateurs in the field made the 36-hole cut, with University of Texas standout Farah O’Keefe leading the way with rounds of 68-69, tying her for third place at the halfway mark.
“We have a lot of good college players and a lot of promising people out here,” said O’Keefe, who eventually finished T-38 after weekend rounds of 72-79 and shared low-amateur honors with Korea’s Yunseo Yang. “Why would you enter a tournament if you didn’t think you could win?”
The other amateurs who made the cut were American Asterisk Talley (T49) and Spaniards Paula Martin Sampedro and Andrea Revuelta (both T59).
For the second week in a row, an LPGA tournament received a $1 million purse boost.
The Chevron Championship announced last Tuesday that its 2026 purse would be $9 million, with the winner receiving $1.35 million. The tournament’s payout has increased by nearly $6 million since Chevron began sponsoring the event in 2022.
The increase came on the heels of the JM Eagle LPGA Championship’s $1 million boost to $4.75 million.
Art Stricklin
