September 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\nLewis wasn\u2019t even sure if she\u2019d ever be able to play golf again at an early age. She grew up outside Houston and was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 11. She went through spinal fusion surgery a few years later and missed her first college season at the University of Arkansas in 2004 while recovering.<\/p>\n
Four years later she was a four-time All-American and winner of the NCAA individual title.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were many trips to the training room and sleepless, uncomfortable nights, but I came out of the surgery a different person,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI was so appreciative for the opportunity just to swing a club, everything since has been a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n
After getting through Q-School in 2008, Lewis found her way to the LPGA in 2009. Her first victory as a member of the tour came in a major championship, the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship in California, where she held off the top-ranked player in the world at the time, Yani Tseng. (She was declared the winner of the 2007 NW Arkansas Championship as an amateur but it was only 18 holes because of weather and deemed unofficial.)<\/p>\n
Over the next three years, 2012-14, Lewis won 10 LPGA events. In 2012, she won four times and became the first American to be named LPGA\u2019s Player of the Year since Beth Daniel in 1994. Lewis won three more times in 2013, ascended to No. 1 in the world in April and won the Women\u2019s British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews. She won another three times in 2014 and was Player of the Year for the second time.<\/p>\n
Lewis played in the Solheim Cup four times for the Americans and was a two-time captain for her beloved US team, losing in 2023 when Europe retained the cup because of a tie. She was able to lead the stars and stripes to a victory in 2024 in Virginia, defeating Europe 15\u00bd-12\u00bd.<\/p>\n
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Warren Little<\/p>\n
As for next steps, Lewis said that she has no real plans, although much of the time will be spent with husband Gerrod, the women\u2019s golf coach at Texas A&M, and daughter Chesnee, who will turn 7 next month. She\u2019s also worked diligently behind the scenes to help raise the profile of the LPGA, and smart money would bet that she\u2019ll continue to do the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not exactly sure what it next but I\u2019m so grateful for all the Arkansas fans and people that have supported me along the way,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve cared for the LPGA tour like it was my own child and I\u2019m so proud of the progress we have made, but to my fellow players, we aren\u2019t done. I hope you all continue to push the tour forward and do all that you can to help on and off the course.\u201d<\/p>\n