Team USA Solheim Cup Captain Urges Better Men’s-Women’s Collaboration

GAINESVILLE, Va. — Solheim Cup U.S. captain Stacy Lewis wishes there was more collaboration between the top men’s and women’s team golf events.

On Friday, the Solheim Cup tees off at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club just outside Washington, D.C. The U.S. vs Europe women’s clash is returning to its traditional spot on the calendar opposite Ryder Cup years, after being played in the same month as the men’s event last fall and in 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the 2020 Ryder Cup to 2021, and pushed its biennial cycle to odd years, alongside the most recent two Solheim Cups. “The biggest con is that we didn’t do more together last year, to be honest,” Lewis said Wednesday. “I don’t think we took advantage of two weeks in Europe.”

A year ago, Europe retained the Solheim Cup after tying the U.S. at 14 in Spain on Sept. 22–24, and won the Ryder Cup with a 16.5–11.5 rout in Italy on Sept. 29 to Oct. 1. But the two team events didn’t do much promotion together, despite their proximity in time and place. “Looking back, that was probably the biggest miss on both sides,” Lewis said. “I felt like it could have helped both of us; it could have helped golf in general.”

After the pandemic, Solheim Cup organizers—the LPGA and Ladies European Tour—decided to play back-to-back events in 2023 and 2024 to avoid playing in the same year as the storied men’s tournament. The Solheim Cup, which dates back to 1990, did the same thing in 2002 and 2003 after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 pushed that year’s Ryder Cup to 2002.

Presidential Treatment

While Lewis, 39, said she’s now “indifferent” about whether the Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup are played in the same or opposite years, the 13-time winner on the LPGA Tour does have a revolutionary idea for one of golf’s other premier team events.

“I’d love to see the Presidents Cup become mixed,” she said of the PGA Tour–operated men’s competition that pits Team USA against international players from countries outside of Europe. At the end of this month, the Presidents Cup will be played in Montreal.

“It’s the perfect way to blend the two tours. The international team would get better very quickly,” Lewis said, referencing golf’s varying talent distribution—the men’s international team is always a big underdog to the U.S., but six of the top-ranked women’s golfers in the world are from countries outside the U.S. and Europe. 

Creating a high-level competition featuring men and women is not unheard of. The International Olympic Committee is considering a proposal to add a 36-hole mixed-team tournament to the 2028 Los Angeles Games.