Stacey Lewis arrived at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club for last month's Solheim Cup as confident as ever.
She knew that American teams played better than European teams during the summer. She also felt incredibly prepared thanks to countless hours of studying potential combinations, possibilities, and data.
However, the U.S. team had lost three consecutive Solheim Trophy games, including the last tournament held on American soil in 2021. Then in 2023, with Luis in charge, Euro retained the cup at Finca Cortesin in Andalusia. An undercurrent of pressure permeated the U.S. team, especially Lewis, who felt she was destined to end the U.S. losing streak and get the job done this time. She assured herself that the team would do that, but a small lingering lingering misgivings remained.
Lurking in the back of her mind was the question, “What would you do if you had to answer the question of why you lost four games in a row?”
But I didn't have to answer that question. The Americans marched toward a wire-to-wire victory, their first victory in seven years. After Friday's foursome and four-ball session, the Americans raced to a 6-2 lead and never looked back, winning 15.5-12.5 on Sunday afternoon with Lilia Vu scoring the winning point. .
A big reason for their success was due to analytics, as KPMG's Performance Insights helped Lewis make the right decisions.
“Insight was the basis of everything we did, from team selection and who made the team, to my selections, combinations and how we played throughout the week,” Lewis said. Ta. SB Nation.
“They were integral to everything we did.”
The computer spit out the numbers and created the first pair. On Wednesday morning, when she wrote out her plan based on what the numbers suggested, she felt confident in her “formula.” She then made slight modifications based on format, feel, and camaraderie, but still relied heavily on analysis overall.
Still, Lewis was eager to put the All-Star combination together during the alternate shot. She wanted Nelly Korda to team up with Lexi Thompson. This duo will be a formidable force and will send shockwaves of excitement through the grounds.
“I think everyone would have loved to have met Nellie and Lexi,” Lewis explained.
“I was trying to get them to understand alternative shots, but the golf ball they were playing was too different from what I originally thought. So Lexi had to make some pretty big concessions. We had better options because of the numbers and obviously it worked, but I wish we could have done that combination for the fans.”
Performance Insights also played a key role in helping Lewis become a three-time captain. At the end of August, the numbers showed Sarah Schmelzel, Jennifer Kupcho, Thompson, and Lewis the three players selected to join the U.S. team.
“I made my captain selection based on how the golf course was set up. I was able to set it up based on the stats and the strength of the team,” Lewis said.
“Literally everything we did revolved around that.”
KPMG has been partnering with the LPGA for quite some time. The company also serves as the host sponsor of the KPMG Women's Professional Golf Championship, one of the LPGA's five major tournaments each year. Amy Yang won her first major title at Sahalee in June of this year at the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
However, KPMG continues to play a more prominent role within the LPGA. They provided Lewis and the players with important information for the players to analyze and understand, which in turn contributed to the players' overall performance. The 2024 Solhim Cup is proof of that.
KPMG will continue to do this in the future.
“Now we have a blueprint. Between myself and the women of the LPGA, we're working on a book to put together for the next captain to say, 'This is what we did.' Here's an example of what we used,” Lewis explained.
“We want things to continue to be the same for players, so we don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. KPMG helped us make this all happen.”
The Solheim Cup will be held in the Netherlands for the first time in 2026. Winning a Cup on the road is one of the most difficult things to do in golf, so Team USA will face a difficult task. At the very least, insights into KPMG and its performance can help alleviate that difficulty.
Perhaps Lewis will return as captain for a third consecutive year, making this difficult task easier.
She didn't rule out that possibility.
“We haven't met yet, so we'll probably come to a conclusion in the next few months,” Lewis said of the outlook for 2026.
“Some of the players and their parents have already asked me if I would do it again. It was so much fun that I can't say no.”
Either way, the US Solheim Cup team has a great system in place thanks to Performance Insights from KPMG. So all future U.S. captains should approach the Solheim Cup with as much confidence as ever — just as Lewis did this past September.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
