Hog calls

Marriage eases Lewis' winless angst

Stacy Lewis swings Friday, June 23, 2017, during the first round of the Wal-Mart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

ROGERS -- Some will say that Stacy Lewis isn't what she used to be.

And they will be right. Stacy Lewis asserts that herself.

Oh, she remains a great player on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, ranking 16th on the money list and 18th in the world rankings.

And certainly she remains the champion and ambassador of women's golf not just for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville but Arkansas itself.

Lewis, 32, was born in Ohio and grew up near Houston, attending The Woodlands High School, but has been all Arkansas since joining the Razorbacks and becoming a four-time All-American.

Lewis, the 2007 NCAA champion, referred to Northwest Arkansas as her "hometown" during Thursday's news conference prefacing Friday's start to the three-day Northwest Arkansas Championship at The Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

"I basically grew up playing this golf course, and it really does feel like home when I come here," Lewis said.

That hometown feeling has grown since her marriage last August to University of Houston men's golf coach Gerrod Chadwell.

The peace accompanying her wedding ring helps Lewis value the price she paid earlier in her career to win 11 tournaments, including 2 majors, and spend 29 weeks as the World's No. 1 player in 2013 and 2014

"It has been different," Lewis said of her approach to golf since marriage. "It's definitely changed my perspective, especially on winning. Maybe it's not as important as it used to be to me. I mean, I still want to win but there are other things that are more important in my life, and I think it's a good balance to have. At times it would drive me mad when I wouldn't win, and now I seem to handle it a little better, and I'm a much happier person to be around. I'm really trying to enjoy it a little bit more and not sweat the small stuff so much."

Lewis, a career earner of $11.8 million despite going winless since capturing the 2014 Northwest Arkansas Championship, hasn't fallen all that far.

She still earned a robust $973,474 in 2016 with three seconds among eight top-10 finishes, but it's down from 2011-2015, when she won between $1.87 million and $2.5 million each season.

This season, having played in 12 of 15 events, Lewis ranks 16th on the 2017 money list with $380,976, including one second and one third.

"I do feel like my game is getting better," Lewis said. "It's getting a lot closer. If I get a few putts to fall early, get some confidence there, the ball striking has been there the last month or so."

She always felt appreciated coming home to Arkansas and appreciates that now more than ever.

"I love this week," said Lewis, who shot a 5-under 66 in Friday's first round to tie for fifth, three shots behind Sung Hyun Park. "I honestly wish it could be two weeks long so I could get to do all the things I want to do while I'm here."

Sports on 06/24/2017