We preview the AIG Women's Open with Stacy Lewis and watch her reminisce on her Old Course victory

[Music] well as they say in Scotland n wind n Golf and as we say nay pickle nay major welcome to the big pickle our weekly peek into the world of women's golf I'm Grant Lon alongside golf week senior Rider Beth and Nichols today it is our preview of the AIG Women's Open from the home of golf St Andrews you may be able to see if the sun and the clouds cooperate the RNA Clubhouse behind me here and our special guest is going to be the woman who cracked the old course code Stacy Lewis she went 5-0 in the Curtis cup here back in 2008 and then won the 2013 AIG Women's Open on a Windswept weekend 11 years ago she'll tell us the flawed way she began her Flawless record here and she'll give us a little nugget about what her second solheim Cup team will look like next month we'd love it if you would subscribe to the Pod give us a rating and a review if you would you'll get all the latest episodes and uh we would appreciate hearing from you and if we have time at the end of the show maybe here at the home of golf we'll finally tell you why we call our podcast the big pickle but before we dive into this week's festivities at St Andrews on the east coast of Scotland we've got to recap what happened last weekend on the other side where Lauren cogin in the span of a summer has gone from card keeping Journey woman to the hottest player in women's golf just three weeks after winning her first LPGA title that was in Canada cogin won her second on Sunday in just absolutely Dreadful conditions all week at the Scottish open nursing a One-Shot lead for the first three hours of the final round and then pulling away down the stretch with her trademark superb ball striking and increasingly clutch putting to win by four over Esther henselite of Germany who follows her silver medal performance in Paris with another outstanding week as a runnerup to all but wrap up a spot on the European solheim Cup team coglin's place on the US team is now cemented she'll compete for her country for the first time and she moves to number 14 in the world this for a player ba who just five months ago was outside the top 100 in the Rolex rankings and randomly digging through a sea of Putters in Phoenix quite obviously she pulled out Excalibur because now women's golf has not just a nice story but perhaps a new star and I love her story you know I I love the fact that she's a a former College walk-on multiport athlete Late Bloomer I think it's I think it's great for the women's game in the sea of phenoms and and I look at how she has progressed as a player you know the storyline of the Evan how she's learning how to play off of uneven lies you know the story last week is how she's gotten better at playing in the wind how she wasn't always great at it and so I think watching a a player evolve and learn things you know in your 30s you know is is such a great message for for the youngsters out there that you don't have to know it all when you get on tour you don't have to know it all as as a Collegiate player that you can grow out here and and and I think that you know she also is showing this athletic clutch Gene that she has that as she's getting more confidence we're seeing more of that just she's she is a great athlete and winning in those types of conditions says a lot shows us a lot of what we could see at the solheim cup when the weather might not be bad but but the atmosphere of the pressure is going to be unlike she's anything she's ever felt before and so I think all of these notches in her belt are so huge as she plays what's as as close as you can pretty much get to a home solheim cup yeah for her just an hour away from where she lives in Virginia she one puted the final seven holes on Sunday uh and these were not tap-ins uh these were in some cases you know 15 20 footer some for par some for birdie uh the the shot that she hit on 17 I thought was was really the couple of shots she hit really defined uh this stretch for her she hits an okay T t- shot but it you know on in the lynx conditions uh it just rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls and winds up uh just to the right of a fairway bunker and she really has no stance at all the best she can do is just you know on her tippy toes punch it back down the Fairway meanwhile henselite flushes her drive and hits her approach to about eight feet so here's you know a three- shot lead that could easily be one uh and instead hinel just misses her birdie Putt and cogin hits a brilliant pitch for her third to tap in range and she makes her par so she winds up going to the 18th up by three she made another long putt one putt for birdie and she wins it uh and so now cogin who needed a hundred starts before she won uh her first LPGA title has her second win in her last three starts let me quickly just run down that top of the leaderboard henselite finishes second for the second straight week Paris gets a silver medal here gets a nice consolation prize no medal but she's going to be I think she would have been on it anyway frankly but and now she locks up uh she's already moved into a position in let points and in world ranking she's GNA be on the team one way or the other and if somehow she fell out of both guarantee she's going to get picked the way she's playing right now tying for third welcome back aaka fway her first event since winning the amund Evan Championship she ties for third with Megan Kang at 9 under Charlie hall right there another solid week for the English woman finishes fifth Gabby Ruffles has not played much Links golf at all but she ties for six with Jin young Co who just is lurking right there uh just knocking on the door trying to win an LPGA event for an eighth consecutive Year big week for Sarah schmelzel in tough condition she shoots 70 on the final day to get eighth alone and that just moves her ever so closer to getting her first solheim cup bid and then Lydia Co follows the gold medal performance with a Ninth Place showing a couple of Le players uh wind up tie for 10th with nria uos and Lisa Pon uos from Spain and Pon from Sweden and so now with that appetizer on the airshire coast of Scotland we have arrived here on West Sands Beach the home of golf the old course at St Andrews ba you and I both got here earlier this week we've been on the grounds now for a day or so and anytime whether you're playing golf or just in the old gr tune as they say it is it is um it's meaningful I think in in every sense what have you seen heard smelled sensed in these first few hours here on the ground well of course I had dinner at The Dun vegan last night as you do and uh and looked looked up the bar you know the pictures of Stacy on the bridge with with her uh with her family and and just enjoying that moment you know that of course is where she stayed in in 2013 and where she celebrated the same thing for Lena Ooa in 2007 so that is the place when it comes to especially this women's event at the old course that is the place where Champions stay and celebrate and I know that Lil Vu was there as well uh with with the trophy earlier in the week so you know I think that you know you have on the one end of the spectrum Ki web playing this week you know Ki saying you know she couldn't pass up another opportunity to play at the old course even though she's exempt until 60 she probably won't do this again so this for real will probably be her last time competing here but uh but you know she said she hasn't really figured out the puzzle quite yet on on on how to play this place successfully but she just loves the history she loves everything it represents she loves when you you kind of Round the Corner on the back dine and you see the Town come into focus and it just kind of takes your breath away and and so you know you have that then you have so many first timers you know taking all the pictures on the bridge and and you know just everybody videoing them on on the Road Hole hitting their t- shots and you know there's just just this wonderful you know air of excitement uh you know and it's it's just it's contagious you know I know there are some players that maybe came into this week not fully appreciating what it was that they were walking into and I I hope that that when they leave you know they have a greater appreciation for for this place and what it means that the women are here yeah and by the way the dun vegan uh they they know what time it is they know it's the AIG women's open and they have rolled out the red carpet for both Lena and Stacy with all kinds of signage their menus have their pictures on it with them celebrating with the AIG Women's Open trophy from in 2013 this is the third time that the old course has hosted the AIG Women's Open Lena number one of the world when she won in 2007 here in a resounding fashion might remember it played as a par 73 that year the 17th hole was made into a part five a 2013 Stacy in in weather so bad they basically wiped out an entire day they had to play essentially well they did play a 36 hole Final on Sunday colleague Morgan Pressel had the lead going into the final round the winds changed in between the 18 whole rounds and Stacy emerged but she had to wait a long time because they didn't repair that's how desperate they were to get everything in and so uh this as you would expect brings out the very best uh in the world and we will'll see what happens this week uh but you look at the major winners this year Nelly Corda you look at yucas saso Amy yang and then iaka F away all of them inside the top 30 in the Rolex rankings um and so it's been a great year for stars big names great players winning Majors will we see that or will we see something maybe more along the lines of a Louis usas who whose only PGA Tour title was the Open Championship here in 2010 this golf course is is as you know if you're a fan of golf it's just like no other it it it can be cutesy and deure uh you know if the conditions are right it it's cozy but you've got to be mindful when the conditions get nasty and ba here's what I was told uh earlier in the week by the RNA as they sent out their official forecast they said winds blowing up perhaps gusting higher than 40 or even 50 miles per hour and the term they use which I love is so UK unsettled the conditions are going to be unsettled this week I mean if they're saying unsettled then goodness knows what uh We As Americans are going to think about it but when you're we're we're both here but when you're back home and you flip on an open a men's open or a women's open don't you kind of want to see a little bit of unsettled a little bit at least one day yeah of course you know I think it you want to see the women you know play the tough test you know I mean you want to see the teeth of of what this golf course you know has and so I think I mean especially when you're not actually hitting the shots I think it's uh it's gonna be a wild one and that means it'll be I think a bunch more of a bunch leaderboard you know I don't know that anyone's necessarily going to run away with it when conditions are like that and and what's also unusual though is that you have a 2T start which I asked Laura Davies if she's ever seen this before this championship and she said certainly not since it's become a major I don't remember it you know of course she played in 43 consecutive British Open so she couldn't recall a time in which there had been a 2T start but that actually isn't because of this wild forecast it's it's because of daylight because this event is being held so much later in the calendar due to the Olympics they lost a full hour of daylight 30 minutes on the front 30 minutes on the back and so so unusual you know and this is you know probably the most iconic first t- shot you know and for someone like Lauren cogin to be starting on number 10 uh and how weird that's gonna be and especially you know when when these you know you want to you want to make make some hay on the front nine and and hold on on the back and it's going to be a tough start for those players and it's a hall by the way uh we we we just casually use the terms out and in to describe front nine out back nine in that was not just a term it was it was descriptive uh you know for so for courses that like Stan Andrews you go out and then you hit that Loop of seven you know eight and nine come back and then 10 and 11 go back out and then you come back in for good beginning of the 12th so it's a hall and that area is the most exposed part of the golf course so you get 10 and 11 to start I mean 11 is a heck of a second hole to have uh at the you know at a major championship one is about as friendly uh a ho that you can have although we've seen through the years that you know you can bounce the ball into the burn if you're not careful and and and make a big number uh tiger did that a few years ago at the open but uh it is odd I'm not crazy about it but again I I think um you know you have the RNA involved here running this Championship as they have since since 2017 and uh so you trust that with all the Championships they've had at the old course they know the Dunhill links if I'm not mistaken does a split uh which is a men's event so uh it's it's just one more quirk in a week of quirks and this is a this is this is the quirky Capital uh of golf in addition to being the home looking at the field 144 players uh ba there were 12 final Hail Mary's said on Monday over at CR and there was a wild what was there an a 12 for three playoff and Steph Meadow and Jody Shad off and Ursula vickstrom Ursula who's an Olympian um from Norway from Finland rather and plays on the L she got the spot with Jody and Steph and so those join the other nine who get those final spots uh and you look at Nelly Corda number one for the 22nd consecutive week 58 weeks overall she's closing in on anuka or 59 weeks maybe now she's closing in on anuka for sixth most number of weeks at number one uh but as we've seen with Nelly uh especially if you're talking about nasty conditions it's hard to know what to expect from her when things were rolling at the beginning of the year anything you threw at her tough conditions like at Palos veres or at the Ford championship in the Phoenix area or uh when you get to match play and Shadow Creek is this beast and she had to play well just to get into match plate whatever you threw at her she handled uh and what we've seen in the last uh couple of months is is Nelly have some flashes like we've been accustomed to seeing but difficult to string an entire round together so as I'm looking ba at Nelly Corda Lily AVU jiny young Co third in the world and you look at the rest of the top 10 uh who do you have your eye on as players besides Lauren cogin coming in this week in good form and eser hinel I should throw in there as well right well I think I think it's important to to look at a player like Jen youngan Co she has uh David Brooker on her bag and of course uh David was was on the bag for Lena Ooa and and has you know such great course knowledge of of what you need to do well around here so I think that's a a you know a huge uh advantage in her in her pocket I I also you know I spent a little bit of time with with Mii Lee today and I was looking at her her open record and it's really good she hasn't won one yet but her British Open record in 10 starts is really strong several top five finishes um you know half of her starts she's finished in the top 10 and she's just one of she also has Brad Beacher on the bag of course was on the bag for for MB Park and and I look at her personality her demeanor you know there there are you know the strategy is so important here and you're you're G to have to do things that you know hit shots that may not be how you want to play it but it's how you should play it and uh and she's really good at that it's sticking to whatever the plan is because that kind of matches her personality so um I think she might be a s one played well last week at the Scot hasn't had a great year but um but seems to be trending uh you know it's um it it'll it'll be interesting to see how how this all shakes out I I I I love this pairing of Stacy and Ki WB and Katrina Matthew I think that's that's that's a fun one for fans to to en enjoy you know just just the history of those three players I also think Charlie Hall's really interesting she she often talks about how Lynx is not her strength but almost in the of of of Lauren she's she's learning and and I think you know Laura Davies told me today Charlie she believes Charlie has the best imagination on tour and you know the reason Charlie says she doesn't really like links she likes Treeline courses that show you exactly where you need to hit which really obvious how to shape your shot and it's not so obvious out here and you have a lot of options and so you know her Caddy will have a a big a big play in that but um but I I I do think that that Charlie's maturing in her game and and it might be time for her to to contend on on a Lyn's course at you know in this event well if the conditions are as we expect you certainly look at um a couple of things sometimes weird conditions extreme conditions can give us funky leaderboards with no offense whatsoever intended Carusi which was as horrendous as you'll ever see back in 99 for the men's open gave us John Vandal uh who was a a a you know a fine journeyman on the on the DP World Tour but was the opposite of a star and Paul Lowry the Scott wound up coming from 10 shots behind to win that playoff Justin Leonard was in there as well and Justin looked like he was going to to be the star who emerged but it it was Lowry so sometimes you get that more often than not you get the you get the premium ball Strikers managing in the tough conditions because it it's G to be tough no matter what I don't know how bad it's going to get but that brings us back to players like Lauren cogin top five in ball striking every year basically on the LPGA Tour and now with an immense amount of confidence having won two of her last three starts by the way where did she go when she and her husband John drove the two hours from from the airshire coast over here Sunday night to the dun vegan she knows and so so she's not gonna mess with tradition so Lauren is somebody you'd look at Charlie top five in ball striking a player like Megan Kang who won a year ago this week or yeah and this week I guess at the cpkc women's open uh and played well last week finishing tied for third anytime I outa bua ways in the field I'm going to say she's gonna top 10 and probably you know I'm gonna win money um and so watch out for the for the pure ball Strikers maybe not you know the the lights out Putters the greens are going to be slow uh much slower than they're used to they have to be because if if they're fast then you can't even play because the ball will just blow off the green it's G to be a week of of of at least for a couple of days of just surviving finding a way I was speaking with Lydia Co on Tuesday just talking with her as we walked uh a couple of holes together you know she said she hit a three-wood from 175 yards last week at the Scottish open and for her it's ju she really kind of embraced the idea that when you get to Links Golf in bad weather you kind of throw the yardage book out and you just say find a way and who's been better at finding a way over the last 12 years than Lydia Co so maybe this could be uh for Lydia the way that she's encouraged to go out you know she's talked about you know she's at least entertaining the idea that you broached on our last spear that maybe maybe this is it for Lydia at the end of the year she said she wanted to win another major you know that'd be a nice way to to kind of wrap everything up if she wins here at the home of golf after winning a gold and getting in the Hall of Fame you couldn't imagine a better Sunset into which Lydia could ride after our interview with Stacy Lewis uh we are going to kick around a couple of things including the solheim Cup teams each will be solidified here in the next few days this week is the final week to qualify for the respective teams and then the captains will make their picks Suzanne Pon for Europe gets four picks with eight automatic qualifiers and Stacy Lewis gets three the seven top Point earners the next two in the Rolex rankings and then three picks for Stacy but with that let's bring on the captain and the woman who knows her way around the old course Stacy Lewis well joining us from across the pond where her fortn night in Scotland has already begun is a two-time major Champion 13 total LPGA wins the former number one player in the world a four-time solheim cup player now in her second goor round as solheim Cup captain for the US the player who leads the LPGA in tournaments claiming her as one of their own and most importantly chn's Mama it's Stacy Lewis hi Stacy hi guys how's it going we are doing great I'm just wondering if all the fields are back now that you're in Scotland where you got that coveted Victory after becoming a mom back in 2020 and of course back at St Andrews which means so much to you how are the feels this week yeah oh it's just in my happy place um where you know you come here and you get soaking wet and but everybody's out playing golf and um it's just P golf at its purest you know you're just out there hitting shots you know it doesn't you don't see many track mans out there on days like we had today where it's windy and and raining and and that's just that's just go play golf you know go figure out how to get the ball in the hole and that's what I love to do the best Stacey I know you fell in love with Link's Golf and the old course in 2008 at the Curtis cup where you became the first player to ever go five and0 I everyone has a first te story it's such an iconic piece of land what's yours the first time well so so I played all the matches obviously at Curtis cup but the first so the first um first match I was play I must have been playing the evens so I didn't tee off on the first hole so we get around in the afternoon and now I've got to hit this first t- shot and it was downwind so you couldn't hit driver so you had to hit some sort of fairway wood and um so they announced my name I'm real nervous the whole thing and I hit this shot and my mom saw has a picture to this day but so the te so te is in the ground like te ball is heed up here and you're hitting like this direction to my left here the divot started and ended before the [Music] tea and this ball just like I mean I duffed it I purely duffed it down the Fairway and like the crowd there was like a clap nobody knew what to do and so so we get down there and it rolled actually it rolled pretty far but again it was downwind so that I couldn't I was far enough back I couldn't stop anything and into the green and so my cat's like well let's just lay up so we hit seven iron down there and then now we've got this 40 50 yard pitch over the burn which I proceeded to chunk again but it one hopped the burn went to three feet and the these people I were playing they gave me the three-footer and I'm like did they not just like watch this entire hole happen like there's no guarantee that that three-footer was going to go in so um so that's how my first hole that I actually CL at St Andrews went oh my goodness and yet you still love it still love it yes yeah my mom went over after that session and went over to the first tea and like it there are no divots on this tea box except for mine and you could still see like the hole where my tea was in the ground a perfect and and I love the kind of revisionist History oh she went five and0 she was Flawless that we didn't miss a shot she almost missed the ball on the first yeah there's nothing Flawless about Link Golf I will tell you that but but like you say that's is isn't isn't that something we've lost a little bit you know because it is it is just about finding a way I feel like that's kind of one of your your legacies find a way yeah I mean you gota you gota learn how to hit eight irons 120 yards or you know hit Gap wedges 50 yards you know like you just have to learn to adapt to hit all these little shots and um and just figure out how to get the ball in the hole chipping with seven irons and running balls up slopes and um you know you play practice rounds with rookies that have never been over there and they've got lob wage in their hand all day um you know and I'm over there hitting seven irons and five irons and stuff and it's just um you just don't see it a whole you don't see a whole lot of players with the creativity like that anymore and it is acquired I know you know Morgan Pressel has talked a lot about getting over there in 2007 and saying what is this you know this is not like anything you ever play um in the US but uh what a place and and I want to I've just been thinking a lot about your your 2013 Victory there at the at the AIG women's open because it it came at a time when um and your career really began at a time when the LPGA which had already you know become Global with Laura Davies bringing Europe over in Mass uh in the late 80s and then s P opening up Asia in the late 90s but really it was that it was that period as you were joining the tour you and Morgan and that bunch in in the late 2000s that that saw the fruit of what s had done because there were a few players who came over right after s but really it was that big push 10 years later that came along and for an American to win a major championship at that time it just wasn't happening a lot in fact you bookended a run of of you know wins by by non-americans you won in 2011 at the a at at the the Chevron Championship I'm have to go back and was the craft NIS right pasta and went and went to craft and then but yeah we'll just call it Chevron of course at Mission Hills and then and then there was not another American winner until you did it at the at at the women's open but I also was thinking about the fact that when we got to St Andrews that year in Beast going for the the calendar slam uh and it was it was an amazing year not unlike what we saw with Nelly earlier this year and then for the chaos that ensued on the weekend with the weather you're finishing what an hour ahead of of the the leaders because they didn't repair uh for for the final round take me back through that Wild Weekend yeah it was you know this was before the RNA was run in this event as well it was run by the lgu at the time L's golf Union and so um um I would say back then you know we didn't have as much control over the golf course or there wasn't as much emphasis put on it as far as you know monitoring green speeds and what the wind was going to do and all that you know it just kind of we we took it as it as it came and consequently we had a we had in that time period we had a bunch of 36 whole finals at at at British Open so um so Saturday it was I I think some players they even started some people early and they played a few holes but it was too windy balls were moving on the greens that was ultimately like what was wrong and so um I obviously never started but I I just remember going out there on Saturday and I practiced in this wind just because I mean practice abilities were open there wasn't like I wanted to stay into a rhythm I wanted to keep doing what I was doing like felt like I was playing good golf and I just remember being out there like at one point I was out there by myself like there was nobody else out there you know I don't know what anybody else was doing but I just knew I needed to stay in the Rhythm and what I was doing and then you know Sunday was just the marathon I think I was four or five groups ahead of the leaders and like you said we just we played started at 6:00 am and teed off and got they had some food at the turn that you just grabbed and went and went to the tea and did it again so um so it's just I mean it was a marathon day and you just had to had to hang in there and in terms of just all-time great shots and major championships um a lot of them have come to the AIG I think about what m did the next year after you won what you did at burkdale but the shot you hit into 17 where does that rank among the the greatest shots you've ever hit I mean as far as golf shots it's the greatest shot I've ever hit to to win a tournament or anything um you know it was it was weird is that I think it was in the round the morning round is I had this shot I called it my low flat shot that was it was just I was keeping my hands a little lower at the top so the ball flight came off a little lower could control the spin so I just had that was the shot I was hitting that week a lot and in the morning round I had the distance for a four iron for that shot so hit the low flat four iron and it worked out good it didn't quite get up on top of the hill but it stayed short two putts get out of there so we come back around again and now it's the low flat five iron and this one came off good came off perfect except this time it actually bounced up the hill and and went to three feet and you know at the time like you're just trying to get out of there and not make a mess at 17 you know you don't realize like what's going on in the moment but then you look back and you're like oh my gosh like I just did that and the three-footer that I had to make I had to play outside the hole too so that was no bargain either there there was no one for GB and I to give you that three-footer unfortunately that was G oh my goodness I I remember that you know you you celebrated there at the dunvegan which is of course where you were staying in that back room and everyone was celebrating the solheim Cup team as well and obviously you're you're wearing that hat right now you're literally gonna be wearing the two hats of Captain and player uh and I'm just curious how this year has been different for you as Captain now that you're doing it a second time around if if at all um it's been a lot busier um you would think Second Time Around would be easier um it's almost probably been a little bit harder just because we're in the United States and all the things that have gone along with it um you know I've made multiple trips to DC for sponsor related events um there's just a lot more ask there's more people involved there's more managing that needs to go on so um so this year's been it's been just as busy as last year I mean really the last the last three years have been just crazy uh let me let me if I can make a deal with you if I tell you why we call the podcast the big pickle will you tell me who your team is going to be this year oh you should have posed that one to Angela she's more Curious of the name than think I could have had her and all you know looking at the team I think we' got three officially that have clinched as we as we record this podcast uh and that would be Nelly and Lilia and Ali Ying feels to me like rose is is close to a lock as you can get if not if not already a lock just because of how high she is in the world ranking Ninth at the moment so I can't imagine a Serio scenario in which she falls even if she does I mean she could the way she's playing she could move into the top seven and point she's eighth but even if she doesn't she's going to be one of those so you've got four of your 12 and then it feels to me as an outsider like there are a couple of other obvious ones but one of those new ones is going to be Lauren coglin she hasn't mathematically locked it up but but as you look at this year's team and the makeup of it I'm just curious to to get your thoughts on what we know now and I know there's still some some things to determine yeah I mean like you said Rose is I mean under all I've learned about Rolex in the last couple of years Rose isn't going anywhere in Rolex so um so she's obviously she'll obviously be there and then um Lauren Lauren's going to be there you know there's Megan Kang's going to be there you know there's there's a few we can go down the list that say something crazy happens and they happen to fall out on points they're there's they know they're there I know they're there so um so yeah I mean I would say I'm probably down to 13 or 14 players right now so the list is the list has gotten smaller and it it's playing itself out the way they're playing this happened last year too it's crazy um I thought I was gonna I about a month ago I was like oh my gosh I'm gonna have like five people for one spot this is going to be impossible but like just the it's played itself out the way the players are playing and and I've tried to let that be be it this this entire time is just go play your way onto this team and don't don't don't make it a decision for me Stacy going into 2013 of course as Grant mentioned earlier NB you know was generating an awful lot of headlines winning the first three majors and and now we have Lydia Co coming in hot off of getting into to the to the Hall of Fame and and winning that gold medal you've been better than anyone on tour when it comes to lending great perspective on your peers and you were you were actually playing alongside Lydia from the beginning of this run when she was back wearing glasses as a young 15y old what can you put in perspective what it is that she's done especially I mean I can't think of a day in which anyone's accomplished more than she did yeah I mean as a fan I mean how cool was that to watch her win that gold medal to get into the Hall of Fame like to it makes you look back on earlier times this year when she had some opportunities and it's like oh that's why she didn't win there you know like that's why things happen the way they do and I would I think she's she'll probably be up there at St Andrews I think the golf course will fit her I think she's very she's very creative her short game is very good can control the ball flight so I wouldn't be surprised if she's in the mix come Sunday at St Andrews too but um I just resiliency to you know the way she's kind of she's changed her golf swing she's changed her coaches and you know to go to start at 15 and then her body goes through all these changes of just growing up and learning how your body you know your body just moves differently did than it did at 25 than it did at 15 so she had to kind of grow up and learn through all of that where like me I did all that stuff in college so um just to kind of come through all that and to win with different instructors win with different golf swings um just shows you the mental fortitude and just um just a great she's great person she's a great player and she's been tremendous for our tour I know how adamant you are that players really whether you want to use the term act like a Founder which was Mike Juan's great line or or however you want to describe it so Adam that that the players represent the tour and I can't imagine anyone who's done it better than Lydia I I look at the hall of fame though Stacy and in its current uh qualification system I don't really it's hard to see the next time someone might reach the Hall of Fame I mean NB was the last to qualify she got her points in 2015 but she had to get that 10th year which is now a one of the Criterion that's been removed and that was in 2016 before that it was sa po the last to qualify so we're talking about just two in the last 15 years 17 years or so uh and you as a player who came along when the LPGA really exploded on a global level and we really you in that first group uh seeing the the fruits like I said of of that Asian explosion that saac helped usher in and it's only gotten bigger since then with Thailand and China and others coming along I just wonder as you look at at it now do you think 27 points which is an arbitrary number it's just one that has been come up with over the years do do you still think that's a good one I mean jiny young CO's got 20 points you know Nell's at 17 at the moment um is that a good number or would you like to see that uh do you think it should always kind of be reviewed to see if it fits with where we are I mean I think it should be reviewed right now do I think it's okay I think it's okay still but um you know your hall of fames are also there like what's the purpose of it you know to are we do we want to you know if nobody's the problem is if nobody's getting in we're not celebrating the ones that are in the Hall of Fame so you know we have to continue to you know celebrate our tour and so if if we're not if if if we're going eight to 10 years between someone getting in I think that's a problem so um you know that's why the World Golf Hall of Fame is continually has somebody get in every year because we're so we're always talking about it we're always trying to you know bring some attention to the game and so um I I see it more from that perspective of let's let's continue to talk about these great players that are in the Hall of Fame and how do you do that you make sure ones keep coming in excellent point excellent point because we're usually focusing on celebrating the next person coming in but that's such a great point that we're not necessarily looking backwards at all the players who are already in it so Stacy I I know it's been a point of emphasis for for you as Captain to make sure that this next Generation understands the significance of the solheim cup what it means to the game what it means to the tour I'm wondering how successful you feel that that that venture has been and and when you may if so when you saw a turning point um I feel like we made a lot of progress last year yes um you know I did a lot of things behind the scenes to get them to know the history of the solheim cup the history of the US team um you know we did some trivia throughout the week and like did some various things that they understood that and going into this one you know there I want them to have an appreciation for what you know wearing that flag on their sleeve what that means and what that represents and um you know it's I think when it comes across as being important to the captains and and then we're bringing we've got 11 pass captains coming which I'm really excited about and uh we did a last year we did a dinner with they came and had dinner with us after opening ceremonies on Thursday night and um they all got up and spoke and so this year we're gonna have 11 of them there and um and I think you know being around them they're going to get an appreciation for it and they're going to understand what it means and um you know we did something pretty cool in that a lot of um I don't know if you guys follow soccer much but a lot of like the national teams especially in Europe um each player when they make their first game or whatever it is they get a number yeah they're like the 200 and something whatever so we C we started a list basically so everybody has a number and um so like your first eight that on the Original Soul Heim cup are one through eight uh my number is 43 um so any rookie this year their number will be 68 so we're at 67 there's only been 67 Americans to have played in the solheim cup and so think when you think of it that way it's like wow this is a very small Club it's a small group to be a part of and um you know it's it's and it's it's pretty cool too to look at that original eight and see the names on that list and U Beth Daniel's number one so pretty fitting there absolutely as it should be yet um one other follow-up thought on that I remember hearing you talk about how quiet the room was in Spain like it it literally made you nervous going into the into the wheat because you thought do they really care and and clearly they did but they just go about it a little different way and like I'm thinking of some of your assistant captains whom we knew cared because they wore it on their face literally with paints talking about Morgan and Paul and and Britney especially they wore it on their their motions on their sleeves there was that era when it was like it is it's when you think about doy Pepper running around mirfield like yeah this this is all that matters what did you learn as a captain just about the idea that not everybody expresses it the same way it's well I understand it because I am them I'm the introvert and we have a lot of introverts right now and your Paula and Morgan you know they're very much the extroverts and and that's what we had for a long time and that's what you saw on the golf course that they wanted to be raah ra and they they they got energy out of doing that and now have players that you know like myself it it almost took energy away from me to get that excited about a putt and things like that and so I understood them um it took my I would say it took my assistant some of them a little bit longer to understand that like they're motivated and they they 100% want to be here but they don't need to go raw and go crazy like they're fine like they're perfectly fine the way they are and so and that's something I've tried to instill on all of them is like I want them to be themselves I don't need them to go try to be Paula or try to be Morgan like just be you and play the golf the way you play if you want to get excited get excited if you don't then that's fine too so um it's just something I I've tried to do across the board because I think in a a relaxed environment like that they're going to play good golf it's when you got to be somebody else and do all these extra things it just becomes really hard so since you have such a great mind at thinking about all these big picture issues news you know we we've had a such an interesting year celebrating first Nelly Corda and her historic run and then now I'm recently with Lydia Co I'm just curious what what you think the main areas that that the commissioner and Leadership should be focusing on right now H going into to the the rest of the season and Beyond goodness um I mean Beyond we gota we got to grow our Tour on the side of TV and exposure I think that's number one for our tour right now is how do we get more hours on TV get more coverage um get more eyeballs paying attention into us because that that's what's going to push sponsorship push purses put push where we're playing um we we've got to continue to push we got to get more people to watch us and whether that's streaming whether that's you know through a different TV deal I don't know what it is but um I think if I was commissioner that would be number one on my list of is finding a way to to increase our exposure got to get more hours and goodness knows you know as Judy Rankin likes to remind me I have no life so I'd be happy to talk as many hours as as they would let me about the LPGA um clearly it's not enough because I had to go to this podcast to talk more about it um but but I I do think the question would be okay so if there are more hours will that automatically make people watch and then what would be the players obligation in terms of getting people to watch well then yeah I mean that it snowballs from there right because then it's on it's on our marketing team it's on it's on the staff to make sure people know what time we're on where we're on I mean I think our big one of our biggest problems is is having to jump around to find us you know it's great we get network TV every now and then but like you're to jump from from one thing to another to Peacock to this app to this app and it's like and and I'm just I want to turn it on so I can watch my soul home Cup players like I can't imagine what your casual fan is trying to do like you know it's one is two are to find us you know so our marketing team has to do a better job there and then you know our players across the board need to do a better job of of wanting wanting that exposure and understanding why it's important and yes we're all shy we're all like introverts that's why we're probably not playing team sports but you have to get outside of that comfort zone and and be and understand that that's part of it that's part that's what my mom told me from when I started playing some good golf she said this is part of it the media is part of it the interviews are part of it and you got to learn how to do it you got to learn how to enjoy it um because that's that's what's gotten us to where we are is all these players me and before me that pushed the envelope and did all those things and um you know now we've got You' got all these social media channels like let's use them you know let's go out there and use them and um I just think across the board I mean from our staff to our players everybody could do a better job uh real quickly given your history of being willing to push the envelope you really uh were if not the Catalyst you were certainly one of them in getting cap PMG to invest heavily in the tour to the point of sponsoring the KPMG women's PGA Championship you've been involved on a number of different levels when this thing is all over in terms of playing would you consider ever being in a leadership role officially within the LPGA including commissioner um I would I mean I think it's moving in that direction I mean I I would like you know I feel like I made an impact as a player and I would like to continue to make an impact in I can't play Forever my body's not going to let me play forever so um you know it's kind of the next natural thing of of potentially moving into something where I can make a difference and you know and keep keep this tour going forward well Stacey we know as Grant mentioned earlier your most important hat is the one a mom and so I I'm curious what the playlist is that chzn has set out for the soul hi cup what's going to be pumping in the team room room oh it'll it'll be any kind of Taylor Swift that is all we listen to these days I didn't say what Morgan wants I said what it's it's Taylor Swift um she's got a couple songs she likes Katie Perry Roar she just calls it the eye of the tiger um Party in the USA you know we got a couple songs but other than that it's it's Taylor Swift uh well I gotta ask yeah I got I gotta ask which is the bigger challenge managing 12 players or one chzn uh the 12 players Jess's five she still listens to me so that's the difference excellent point well Stacy uh this uh is a special couple of weeks for you I know it's busy you're you've got a lot going on so thanks for taking the time I hope you I hope you feel all the fields this week and next and we'll see you very soon awesome sounds good we'll see you all there thank you well ba what you think about what you heard from Captain Stacy Lewis well you can always count on Stacy to say something insightful I really thought that what she said about looking at the the Hall of Fame criteria you know the question of whether or not the Hall of Fame current system needs to be to be fixed she said you know one thing I know for certain is is that we need to be celebrating those who are already in the Hall of Fame more consistently and I think that's so true you know we're constantly looking at who who's the next person that's going to get in and when we have these eighty year or 10e gaps between players who qualify we really aren't talking that much about who's already in the Hall of Fame and and you know the LPGA can't do enough quite frankly to celebrate its past and and keep those players front and center and I espec especially as the tour skews younger and younger you know you need their voices and their their presence more than ever so uh I I definitely think that that looking at that looking at it that way I I do believe that that the system needs to change I think there are way too many players um that that feel to most people that they should be there are LPGA Hall of Fame criteria certainly already many of them already in the World Golf Hall of Fame that that the system should be tweaked I I do like the point system though Grant I I enjoy the fact that uh you know Lydia playing her way in you know I can't think of another Hall of Fame in which that's the way you you get in um whether and the points have been adjusted at several points several times I should say throughout the history of the hall and so um you know perhaps it's time to be looked at again as as we we note that the tour has never been deeper and that players careers are are are are shorter um that that it's it might be too hard well if you look at the top 25 all-time winners on the LPGA Tour only a couple of them have played after 1980 I mean you got anuka Ki you know Julie iner Beth Daniel you know Nancy and Nancy even began she got what 17 of her wins her first two years in the 7 uh 27 is an I think we all agreed 27 is an arbitrary number uh and I think that's that's what I think we we're kind of agreeing on uh you we've had this great debate uh quite frankly that uh not not not to give away the name exactly for the of the podcast but part of what really you know sparked our interest in having uh a podcast years ago was having spirited debates about things like the Hall of Fame because that's how we like to party we talk about Arcane rules in in uh LPGA policy um but but when you look at at the fact that Lydia is now the 35th player to go in the LPGA Hall of Fame she's the 26th to play her way in there were nine who've been in uh as honorary members people like dinos shur who certainly you know in my mind deserves it but and then the eight Founders who didn't NE necessarily play their way in and as you've so brilliantly documented many of them weren't even full-time LPGA players they just were were women who really got the the tour off and running uh the thing that that that I think the the best argument I could make about why there needs to be at least a review of of the current points system uh is that had Lydia Co never won another Point not not a player of the year a very trophy not another gold medal I mean not a gold medal not another tournament and finishes with 26 points is there a single soul who would say yeah you know that just proves she's not worthy of the LPGA Hall of Fame you'd say no you're crazy of course of course Lydia co uh is deserves a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame uh a and really now with they're not being a a veterans category to to maybe make up for uh that that possible quirk in in the a short coming in the in in the points system uh I'm I'm open to ideas I I trust people like you like Ron Cyra like Judy Ranken like and others maybe like a Julie yster cardi web people who are in the Hall of Fame I I could easily see a a committee of very invested uh smart connected people who could look and not just say okay you're in you're in you're in but say okay wait a second laa Davies can we tell the story of the LPGA of the last 40 years without getting to Lura Davies no l Davies you're in the LPGA Hall of Fame people like that uh so I'm we can talk later about you know specific ideas but I thought what Stacy said was really on point this any Hall of Fame is about celebrating your greatest players and if you're talking about eight years since the last one went in and nine years before that the last to go in you're not celebrating those nearly enough well this as we said is the last week for European and American solheim Cup hopefuls to qualify and those who don't will be at the mercy of a pick from Stacy Lewis for the US Suzanne pson for team Europe and ba as we look you heard what Stacy said she's really got about 13 players that she's looking at you you certain wouldn't rule out you know another player maybe if they were to win this week Cheyenne knight uh Alexa Pano won on her birthday last year in Northern Ireland she just turned whopping 20 this week uh you know were she to to pull out a second Victory now she would at least uh even if she didn't qualify she would earn you know uh a strong look but uh for for the US you're going to have you know Nelly Lilia now you got Lauren coglin locked in Ali Ying Megan Kang Allison corpo you got Andrea Lee sitting there at seventh if Rose Zang at eth were to outplay Andrea this week and move ahead of her Rose who's already locked in one way or the other because she's so high she's top 10 in the Rolex rankings if Rose bumps out Andrea then Rose gets the you could get the last points spot and it could maybe mean Angel Yen moves in and gets the one of the two Rolex spots along with Alice and Lee uh and then Andrea Lee would have to rely on a captain's pick uh how do you see this with with the the let's say the we got half the team locked in right we're going to say well really eight if if you count Rose and Allison Lee I don't think there's a way that either of them could could both fall out I think you're going to have those eight that we mentioned so I think you know unless and correct me if you disagree but I think you're looking at at Andrea at seventh on the points list she was seventh last year got in on the last day you might recall in Canada then you got Angel Yen right there uh you've got Sarah schmell you got Jennifer cupo who's not qualified either way yet points or ranking you got Lexi Thompson uh all right there how do you see it yeah that that's your short list for sure you know I can't imagine Lexi Thompson not not being on the the team uh honestly I think Jennifer cup show will be on there so um I'm really interested to see you know how this shakes out with with Angel uh you know her her her Fitness in terms of her her her ankle and her health has been a question mark for much of the year um yeah you know and of course getting your game back after after such a a trying situation is is tough uh you know so so it'll be interesting to see what kind of week that she has uh you know I definitely think Allison Lee is going to be on that team uh for sure I don't I don't really see her falling out of the out of the rankings um so so yes you know it's got Andre Lee has to have another strong week um I really it's it's it's really a really as Stacy said it's it's a small group here look looking to make a final push you'd have you'd have to have a humongous Hail Mary to have you know some of those other players that you mentioned they would literally I think have to win or or losing a playoff or something points are doubled because it's uh you know because it's a major championship so that's what the US team looks like you really got 13 players probably for for 12 spots and really you got five for four spots uh and and right now um you know Andrea is the Bubble Girl there sitting at seventh in the points spot uh on the on the European side here are your top eight top two off the Le points list Esther henselite moved his second last week with her Victory uh and she's right behind Charlie Hull so those two would qualify off points uh and that knocked Lynn Grant from the points list down to the next six in the Rolex rankings you have Seline bouier Maya Stark Lynn Leona Maguire Carlota saganda and meline sagstrom not mentioned there is Georgia Hall you know George is gonna be there obviously uh she she's too talented of a player and and it it almost doesn't matter what kind of form George is in she's actually been playing a little bit better uh of the last uh six weeks or so she's playing her best golf now at at this time with big events coming up including this week so George is gon to be there that's that's nine I don't I however you say it those eight I just mentioned plus Georgia there there there you got nine and then you've got you know three other picks for Suzanne Anna norquist is going to be an interesting question you know I mean she's she's played every solheim C you know for since 2009 uh and she's a Vice Captain I think if she wants to play she'll play I think uh and that'll be interesting and then you've got so probably I would imagine you're gonna have Emily Patterson she was a bit of a of a a stretch pick last year but she showed up and proved it that she deserved a spot she's an elite ball Striker and uh hasn't had you know a lights out year but Emily I would imagine will be there and so if you said Georgia and you said Anna and you said Emily um which are not that's just my speculation that would leave one other spot uh and ba I'm looking at Players like Alexandra ferling of Germany she's a rookie on the LPGA hasn't played as great on the LPGA as she's played on the let where she's won a handful of times already in the last year then you'd have an Alban Valenzuela right there I mean Jimma dor played in the last solheim Cup team desperately wants to be back she probably would imagine she needs a good week this week here at her home in Scotland uh to to maybe make an impression on Suzanne but as we've learned with Suzanne uh expect the unexpected we saw that taking Emily pson and Caroline headwall last year with two of her four picks do you have a sense uh as to how Suzanne's gonna go yeah you know I I think uh Suzanne appreciates fire she appreciates you know that the player who Rises to the occasion in the moment that's much like her personality and obviously what she's done in the past and and in that vein um I know folks are looking a little bit at Brony law you know a player who leads the order and Merit right now on on the let and of course a past solheim cup player with a lot of fire uh you know I think she might be a a wild card uh on this one but but one that might fit into a headwall kind of situation and she was a teammate of suzan's yeah you'll recall at Glenn Eagles yes yes and so I and and and so I look at at her as being part of the conversation she's obviously had a really strong year on the L which isn't a tough a competition is what a a Jima or or Alban are seeing week to week on the LPGA and Bronte hasn't really played well when she has been in fields that are mixed with the LPGA like the Evan uh you know so so I think it's important for Brony to have a good week this week um you know but but there's no question about her fire and and and and her um her grit in match play um but you know I mean it's it you know I I think Jimma and Alan there there's a lot of players they're not really nobody in that whole mix is playing Amazing golf right now so there's nobody they're not oh my gosh she's so hot how could you leave her off the tee so I do think that a good week this week would really go a long way in pushing someone out of a group that's that's kind of packed right now to say pick me pick me uh okay I'm not gonna uh ask you to pick me pick me for a winner this week at St Andrews but I will ask you just what you're most looking forward to for this week and the AIG women's open at the home of golf well I hope we have some some drama I mean just I hope that you know we see some spectacular shots you know I'm sure there will be some train wrecks you know all all of this is fun to watch because it's such a different style of golf than we see week to week and we really see some creativity and I I enjoyed watching players today have fun on the Road Hole trying to you know hit it backwards off the wall onto the green and and some were absolutely terrible terrible at it and some were pretty good and just trying to hit off the off the dirt path as well you know I mean I it's just it's just so different and so quirky and I'm also I'm also excited about whatever the celebration looks like if it's it's back you know in the old haunts and we see it again uh on on the Corner Pub well I one thing I'm looking forward to uh this year is just kind of the new era if you will think about the last time that the AIG Women's Open was staged here in 2013 the RNA which goes back a gazillion years had never admitted a woman into its membership and now uh you've got a newly renovated clubhouse right behind me that has a women's locker room and there are a number of women who are part of the RNA it it's taken way too long I mean it's like been glacial in how slow the the major golf bodies have been to welcome women in but uh it's happening and and uh I think this this week is going to be a great celebration whoever hoists the AIG Women's Open trophy is not just going to be a major Champion they're going to be a champion at the old course and that something that no one will ever forget well we hope that you won't forget to subscribe to our pod leave us a rating and a review and let us know what you think about the show I hope you're having as much fun listening to it I'm not sure it's possible as as we are doing it we have a great time and unfortunately we're out of time and so we're not able to tell you why we call it the big pickle maybe next week so enjoy the AIG women's open at the old course get up early with us it's on USA Network uh on all four days the first two days uh and then early coverage on USA on the weekend and then we finish on NBC I'll be here with Morgan Pressel in the booth and Tom Abbott and Karen stuffles celebrating her 20th and iary of winning the AI Jin open will be on the ground for us uh and uh Karen the hearty soul may need to put rocks in her shoes to to to stay uh on Tera Firma this week enjoy it we sure are uh and uh we enjoyed bringing you this pickle from the home of golf for Beth and Nichols and for our engineer Chandler hul I'm Grant Boon join us next week as we reopen the jar for another big pi and [Music]