Stacy Lewis Says ‘Definitely Some Changes To Be Made’ For Solheim Cup Rematch In 2024

After an "exhausting" Solheim Cup as captain, Stacy Lewis will do it all again in 2024 as the tournament goes back-to-back, and she insists she won't change too much in terms of tactics after that epic encounter in Spain.

USA and Europe produced a 14-14 tie at Finca Cortesin that saw the hosts retain the Solheim Cup as holders, and to ensure the event is held in alternate years to the Ryder Cup the rematch will come around quickly in 2024.

Lewis says there won't be too much turnover in terms of players on the team, given the short turnaround, but she has picked out some finer points to improve on when the USA host Europe in Gainesville next year.

"There is definitely some changes to be made," said Lewis. "I think there were a lot of things we did that worked and some things we still need to look at tinkering with.

"Team-wise, I think the players themselves will be pretty similar. I think you could see two or three maybe shift around. I want it to be competitive. I want that decision to be harder for me than it was this past time. Just going to keep tracking the players.

"Things are definitely easier now doing it for the second time. Not as many calls, not as much planning, because most of that is already in place."

Lewis confirmed that Solheim Cup qualifying for Team USA will end after the AIG Women's Open at St Andrews, taking placed between 21-25 August, and will then make his captain's picks.

"So we talked and the points will cut off after the AIG Women's Open and do picks as well after that," said Lewis. "We've got to figure out obviously how and where we'll make the picks.

"But we have two weeks between that and Solheim Cup. Give us enough time to get everything ready and include a Major in there, too."

The USA stormed to a 4-0 lead after a whitewash in the opening session, but Europe clawed their way back to level the score going into the Sunday singles - which they then split to retain the trophy.

USA dominated in foursomes, while Europe won both fourballs sessions 3-1, and while Lewis will hope to improve on that, she was overall happy with her pairings and her use of statistical analysis during the Solheim Cup.

"I was very happy with the way things went as far as inside the team room. Some little thing we'll clean up, change," she added.

"I thought we did a very good job in alternate shot as far as the way the girls played. We got to work on best ball a little bit. That's still something I think we got to work on.

"But the formula was there. The statistics work. I know I talked about it like crazy, but it worked and it was right. It provided a lot of guidance for me to trust my gut, to trust what I know about these players.

"That was the hardest thing for me that week, was to keep trusting my gut and everything we had worked on. It was easy to say, oh, so and so maybe didn't have a great day today. Should we sit them? No. We're going to stick to our plan and we did that."

Lewis does not feel like some sort of playoff should be brought in if the teams end up tied, with many fans in America unhappy with Europe retaining the trophy as holders.

"I feel like it should stay unfortunately," said Lewis. "Just now you have a precedent. There is history to it. I think it would almost be kind of weird to change it. 

"I also think that's a lot on one or two players to go make them go play some golf and decide this thing. Yes, it would be unbelievable TV, but I think now you got to stick with history."

And after at one point thinking about trying to actually play her way into her own team, Lewis says that her experience in Spain made it abundantly clear that a playing captain is not really a viable option.

"After experiencing Spain, I really don't think you can captain and play," she said. "There is definitely no way to captain and play."