Stacy Lewis is happy.
The former top-ranked American in the Rolex Rankings slipped to the number two spot behind Lexi Thompson earlier in 2016 after going without a win for what has now been two years. While Lewis has continued to drop in the rankings from No.3 at the start of the year to her current position at No.9. But Lewis says she’s happy, due in large part to her ability to strike a long-needed balance of creating a life away from the course which has taken her focus and attention away from golf.
“I mean, the game is definitely not where I want it to be,” Lewis said in Arkansas. “I would definitely say the golf itself is not where it needs to be, but I feel like personally I’m in a great place. A lot of good balance going on in my life.”
Lewis is scheduled to get married in August, and as someone not likely to gush over flowers or linens, has delegated much of the work to her mother while still making the time to enjoy some of the wedding planning traditions like attending the cake and food tastings.
“Yeah it is a good part. You get a little sick afterwards, but we made some visits up,” Lewis said about attending her tasting in Connecticut. “The day’s going to be great but the planning, it’s just too much for me.”
That’s not to say Lewis has completely neglected her game, she’s posted three top-10 finishes in the first six months of 2016 including two runner-up’s, a great follow up to a 2015 season that included six second place finishes; certainly not an indication of someone with an aversion to the range. It’s an impressive start to the season for any player not named Stacy Lewis - who won 11 times in four years, including two major championships, twice earned Player of the Year honors and was a two-time recipient of the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. But there’s a different standard for Lewis, a different expectation of the former world No.1 who until 24 months ago seemed unstoppable.
The drought has sent even Lewis searching for answers.
Last week while in town for the Tour’s return to the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, the former Razorback sought a fresh set of eyes in former coach Shauna Estes-Taylor, who is entering her 10th year at the helm of the Wooo Pig Sooie faithful. While the pair speaks weekly, Estes-Taylor hadn’t seen her former player in action since the U.S. Women’s Open last summer. So the two made time to reconnect for a practice round early last week in hopes of making a breakthrough.
“I wear a bunch of different hats with those girls. Sometimes it’s course management talk, sometimes its personal things, you know sometimes it’s picking them up when they’re a little down,” Estes-Taylor told LPGA.com. “I think sometimes getting a new perspective and a new set of eyes you can pick up on something kind of quickly.”
For a no-nonsense player like Lewis, advice from someone like Estes-Taylor can be a welcome change in a world that can become clouded with those just looking to maintain their place among the entourage.
“I think probably the best way to describe my relationship with Stacy is that I’m very honest with her and I don’t tell her always what she wants to hear, but I tell her what she needs to hear,” said Estes-Taylor. “And I think that’s something that motivates Stacy and I think she respects that I’m willing to tell her the truth and that’s what I’ve always tried to be in her life the voice of truth when she comes to me in good and bad and I’m going to you know tell her what I think and it’s always worked well with us.”
So what did the Coach discover? The diagnosis seems to a combination of a busy schedule compounded by a lack of confidence due to a few missed putts.
“You know, I think Stacy has a lot on her plate. I think she’s reached a level in her career where there are a lot of demands on her time and you know it’s a good thing. But then getting married and trying to make the Olympic team, I think it’s a lot for an athlete to kind of juggle and it can be hard to do.”
Estes-Taylor doesn’t seem worried that the athlete, who is the most decorated in Razorback history, will once again return to form once this summer’s demands are behind her. Lewis is currently No.9 in the Rolex Rankings, putting her in the number two spot behind Lexi Thompson on the team to represent the United States in Rio. As long as Lewis can maintain her position in the top-15 by the July 11th deadline, she will be headed to Rio. That’s just 11 days away.
“I think as things start to settle down, a couple of those get out of the way, she’ll feel more comfortable and put more focus where it needs to be when she’s competing.”
Finding the right balance between career and life is a difficult one and after years of piling all her energies into the former, Lewis has managed to tip the scales back in the direction of the latter. The very fact she sought out her former Coach last week in hopes of discovering the piece of her game she lost somewhere over the past two years, shows Lewis is not content leaving the scales tipped so far in one direction.
“She’s an amazing ball hitter, she’s also a very smart player. I think she makes very good decisions, she plays to her strengths and when her putter gets hot she wins,” said Estes-Taylor. “She has a complete game and just trying to make sure that game is where it needs to be right now.”
Lewis is in the field at this week’s Cambia Portland Classic where she finished runner-up in 2013.