Team USA won the Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club 15-5-12.5, and it was all thanks to an analytics-first approach.
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GAINESVILLE, Va. – Entry to Sunday Singles at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, Team USA looked like they were on their way to a stress-free Solheim Cup Sunday. With a 10-6 lead – and dominant performances from their biggest stars – it felt like a matter of whenNO whetherthe Americans would earn the victory point.
However, as the second leg of the 12 singles match played out the final nine games, the Europeans had grabbed all the momentum. Europe’s chances of retaining the Cup were still slim, but with the Blues flooding the leaderboard, there was hope for the away team.
You can feel the anxiety creeping into the American psyche. Nelly Korda stood just outside the 16th green window and nervously checked her phone every few minutes. Alison Lee sat in a chair behind the 17th green with an American flag draped over her knees and talked quietly with her teammates about how the games should be finished for an American victory. Lexi Thompson, likely playing in her last Solheim Cup, choked back tears after losing 1 to Celine Boutier.
That anxiety was only eased when Lilia Vu, playing the third-to-last match of the day, chipped her final approach to within two feet of the cup on the 18th green, effectively clinching the Cup for the americans.
“I looked at the leaderboard, I saw we had 14 points and like Stacy (Lewis) said earlier in the week, half the points matter,” Vu said. “I only had one goal: to get close and get that bird.”
The victorious Team USA stormed the green, waving the stars and stripes as they attacked Vu and her corpse. It had been seven long years since they last lifted the Cup. Seven years of heartbreak and tears. Seven years to come only short.
This is what catharsis looks like.
USA’s winning moment didn’t happen overnight. The journey to the 18th green had begun more than two years ago when Lewis was named the American captain. Her initial appointment was only for the 2023 game, but with just one year (a dampening effect from Covid-19 postponements and cancellations) between the 18th and 19th editions of the event, Lewis was chosen to captain the next .
Lewis wasted no time in shaping her strategy. She set to work, researching tirelessly in hopes of concocting a winning formula.
“I started doing research and reading, including (Shane Ryan’s) book on the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.” Lewis told GOLF.com. “There’s been a lot of talk about analytics — what guys do, the two different (analytics firms) that teams used. So we made appointments with both of them.”
Compared to the men’s game, the top level of the women’s game lags far behind when it comes to analytics. Stroke-gain data has only been available to the LPGA since 2021, and all data is manually tracked by boxes. For this reason, there had not been much reliance on advanced analytics in the past Solheim Cup. Lewis tried to change that.
The US team retained sports intelligence company Twenty First Group to provide insights and secure the services of data guru Justin Ray. It would no longer rely on gut feelings and prejudices to determine pairings. With Lewis at the helm, every decision would be backed by data.
Lewis called Ray a “great asset,” adding, “He’s been a great friend and he loves his stats, but he loves golf and loves watching this team compete.”
The USA won the foursome in Spain 5-3 and continued their dominance of the RTJ Club with a 6-2 advantage. For the first time in the history of the event, the Americans had won the alternate shot in two consecutive Solheim Cups.
With Lewis leading the team, what was once a clear weakness had become an overwhelming strength. And in the USA’s bid to reclaim the Cup, that change in tactics proved to be the difference.
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The back nine of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club winds along the shore of Lake Manassas. It offers stunning views and has a dramatic closing stretch. For the USA, the last shot was not just a beautiful setting to put the red on the board, but it was also a string of crucial holes that proved key to their dominance in the foursome, especially in the early sessions.
If you look at the scorecards in those matches, you’ll see a distinct pattern emerge. The American foursomes were relatively quiet on nine fronts, either trailing or holding serve. However, when they reached the back nine, they switched gears.
The US’s ninefold dominance is no mere coincidence. Lewis and her analytics team identified that stretch — specifically holes 10 through 14 — as the part of the course on which they believed they could assert their dominance.
“There’s a six-hole stretch out there on the back nine, kind of a stretch of 10 to 14, 15, I don’t even know what it is — but there’s six holes in a row that you’d hit birdie putts on.” Lewis said. “So we put that as our focus on putting our best players on the odds. It allowed us to really take advantage of that part of the golf course, and that’s really what our alternate pars were made for.”
With the best players teeing off on odd holes, the early back nine became a celebration spot for the Americans. Over the two foursome sessions in that crucial series of holes, the Americans won 26 holes, compared to just 12 for the Europeans.
“It’s been a really important stretch,” Lewis said. “And I think it mostly showed up in the alternative.”
Lewis’s numbers-heavy approach was in stark contrast to her European counterpart, Suzann Pettersen. Because as analytical as the Americans were, the Euros depended just as much on sentiment.
“Looks like I’m a numbers person?” Pettersen said. “That’s probably the biggest difference between Stacy and me.”
Despite losing by four in two consecutive Cups, Pettersen refused to second-guess her approach. Her instincts were a major asset in her playing career, when she won two major titles, and she brings that same mentality to the team room.
This approach had given Pettersen’s team a draw and retention of the Cup in Spain, but on American soil, Lewis’ strategy prevailed.
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Although the final margin of this Solheim Cup was 15.5-12.5, for much of Sunday afternoon, the outcome felt uncertain. If a hole or two had gone differently, it might have been the Europeans who were celebrating.
“That was the longest hour and a half of my life, I’m not going to lie,” Lewis said of watching the last few games. “Just really nervous. You felt quite helpless.”
The USA dominated the first two sessions of the competition, building a 6-2 lead that was the largest Day 1 lead in the event’s history. But from that moment on, the Europeans played better golf. Over the last three sessions, they outscored the Americans 10.5 to 9.5.
But the request of the Europeans for return was not realized. In a battle of wits and courage, the former reigned supreme.
“I’m very proud of them,” Lewis said.
The same can be said for how the players feel about their captain.
