Lewis Looks to Defend at ShopRite Classic


Stacy Lewis closed with a 4-under 67 and a 16-under total of 197 to win resoundingly at last year's ShopRite Classic. The event, one of the few remaining 54-hole tournaments on the LPGA Tour calendar, starts Friday on the Bay Course at Stockton Seaview Hotel and Golf Resort in Galloway Township, N.J.

Lewis, currently ranked No. 3 in the world behind Lydia Ko and Inbee Park, won at Seaview for the second time; the 30-year-old 11-time Tour winner also took the title in 2012.

Her prior ShopRite victories propelled her to the tour's Player of the Year awards in both 2012 and '14. Obviously, she loves the Bay Course. "There's no houses out there," she said last weekend when the tour was idle. "You don't have to bomb it down every hole. It's golf how it should be played. The greens are tricky, which I love because I feel I can read greens better than everybody else."

On Wednesday, Lewis added, "I just like this golf course because it's kind of old school, and just the way kind of golf was made to be played, you know, tee to greens really close, and it's just - it's a challenge, you know. There's holes you gotta take par on and move on, but then there's holes you can make birdies on. And the greens are tricky, which I like, because I feel like I can read the greens a little bit better."

Here's what else Lewis had to tell reporters on Wednesday. She'll be looking for her first win of the year. Her previous victory came at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last June.

MODERATOR: Good to be back here, Stacy?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah.

Q. What is it about this golf course that you like so much?

STACY LEWIS: I just like this golf course because it's kind of old school, and just the way kind of golf was made to be played, you know, tee to greens really close, and it's just it's a challenge, you know. There's holes you gotta take par on and move on, but then there's holes you can make birdies on. And the greens are tricky, which I like, because I feel like I can read the greens a little bit better.

Q. Numbers have really fluctuated as far as the winning score here. Is that just because of the wind?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. The winning score here is just all based on weather. You know, the two times I won I think it's been about the same, but '13 when Karrie won it was crazy windy and scores weren't that low. So you just gotta take what the golf course gives you and not try to force it.

Q. When you think back to that second round last year, was that the round of the year for you?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. It was a good one, you know, because I remember I didn't play very good the first day, so I needed something to get myself in contention and give myself a chance. And then just the way I was playing just going into Sunday. You know, I felt like it was mine to win, and I felt like I was playing good enough that, you know, no matter what anybody else did, I was going to beat 'em.

Q. Not a win yet, but last year was obviously an amazing year. But your scoring average is the exact same as last year. Does that tell you you're on the right track?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, yeah. I mean I'm not too concerned about, you know, I'm doing a lot of really good things right now. You know, there's a couple of those tournaments I'd like to have won, but you know, that's golf, and it's getting harder and harder to win out here. There's some amazing players right now, and you know, I just gotta keep doing what I'm doing because obviously there's nothing wrong with it.

Q. You mentioned it's getting harder and harder to win. It just seems to be a wave of young players, like every year there seems to be a new 17 year old, 16 year old coming out here. What's your take? Where are they coming from and are you ever surprised that every year there seems to be - like Brooke is playing this week. I think she was third a couple of weeks ago. I mean every year there seems to be a new phenom just about.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. It's not surprising because you see - you know, those girls are 13, 14 years old and they saw what Lexi did, and it's kind of like, oh, I've played against her. I can do that. And you know, you had Alison Lee playing well a couple of weeks ago, Brooke Henderson. I mean there's so many good ones. It's crazy really to think that they are as good as they are at such a young age. And it's not surprising anymore. And truthfully, I think what anybody at that young age does is going to be compared to Lydia now, and I don't think anybody is going to ever get close to what she's done.

Q. Do you have to be - not a lot of rookies have won on this course. Do you almost have to be a little bit of a veteran to play this course because it's kind of different from what you guys usually see?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. The first couple of times I played here, I honestly hated it. I was like, this golf course is terrible. But then once you take a chance to really get to know it and really kind of learn the little bounces and learn, you know, where to hit it for certain pins, once you really learn the golf course, that's the huge advantage. So you look at players that - veterans that are really smart players. I mean Karrie has won here multiple times for that reason alone.

Q. This tour has been kind of on and off the past couple of weeks, but now you begin the stretch, this sort of begins the summer. Is now the time if you're going to have a good year, to start going, you really gotta start moving at this point?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. This is the time. I took some time off last week and didn't play as much golf as I normally do just because of the business of this stretch and to really get ready for these next few weeks, because this is - you know, I've talked about all year, the summertime is when you want to be playing your best golf. That's when we have our biggest events, the most number of events. So this really for a lot of people and for me is a kick start into the rest of the year.

Q. And two of your sponsors have events the next two weeks. You've won here. Is this a part of the stretch you really look forward to?

STACY LEWIS: It is. It definitely helped Mobile not being on the schedule because I had won there, so kind of gave me a week break. But you know, it's a busy stretch for me, but it's one I'm excited about. You know, I can't wait to get to Westchester for KPMG and just to see - obviously I've been to the course but just to see everything and to see it all come together, I'm pretty excited about these next few weeks.

Q. How cool is it to see some of the things that are happening in women's golf right now? KPMG coming up and then you look and you see women's college national championship on all week. It seems like a lot of kind of barriers to access for you all in the women's game has kind of come down at some point?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. It was really cool for me to actually be able to watch the NCAAs, the last two days, because you know, I know what those girls are going through. And to see the format change, you know, you get the pros and the cons of it, but once you see it on TV, that's what we needed and that's where we need to be. It's really cool to see the investment that's being made in women's golf. The Golf Channel is doing at host with the NCAAs and what they're doing at KPMG. I think we're going to have almost the whole Golf Channel staff on site that week. You know, people are starting to make an investment, it makes you excited. It makes you want to play some better golf.

Q. I want to ask you about resting last week. I know you are not usually one to take off too much time or go out and practice and grind. Has there been a point where you said, all right, I need to start managing rest time and taking off a little bit?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah.

Q. And do you usually come off of rests playing well?

STACY LEWIS: Well, the problem is has been the last few years, I get to about August and I'm exhausted. And so - and I get, you know, it's usually around the Canadian Open, where I have no energy left. And so I've really tried to plan my schedule out better to take weeks off and to go do other things. I mean I took the weekend off, spent Memorial Day and everything with my family. And you have to do that stuff. It's just shut it down, put the clubs away. And what was good about this week is we don't start till Friday. So I can come here, have two good days of practice, play the golf course, play the pro am. I really feel like I have enough time to get the game in shape. You know, whether I play good or not, who knows, but I feel like my game's in a good spot and feel pretty good about it.

Q. And just about ShopRite in general. This sponsor, this event has been here for so long. You've been involved, coming back as defending champ for media days. Just talk about the sponsor ship and the support of women's golf at this event?

STACY LEWIS: It's amazing how not only ShopRite, but all of their employees, their customers, I mean there's so many people that support this event. That's what this event is known for is the pro ams and the number of just the number of people we have around. And while it's a little bit overwhelming these next two days, but it's great, you know, to get, again, more exposure for us, more eyes on us. You know, that's what we want. So ShopRite has just been great to us for over I think 30 something years they've been a sponsor. I love coming back here. I love working with them, you know, coming back for media day and seeing everybody. You get to know people over the years and so it's good to be back.

Q. What about the closing hole on 18? You've had some good memories on there. It's built up quite a bit over the years but talk about that closing hole and the atmosphere there.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. They've definitely added some things. You know, last year I think they added the grand stand on 17 and building things up on 18 again. It's just such a cool scene. When you're winning and walking up that hole, you know, a lot can happen on 18, par 5. You know, I've been pretty fortunate where I've had the lead, just get it in the fairway and get it down there. It's a great finishing hole. You have to hit a good drive to keep it in the fairway to give yourself a shot to go for the green. So you know, a lot can happen there.

Q. Has your family been impacted by the floods in Houston at all?

STACY LEWIS: No. They're really annoyed with the rain, though, more than anything. Luckily, you know -

Q. We need some rain here?

STACY LEWIS: Luckily everybody with my family is okay, but it's been a wet month for the state of Texas really, so I was actually in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and it was rain, rain and more rain last weekend. So clubs were put away for - because they were forced to.

Q. Is it crazy to see some of those photos and maybe any recognizable ones that stand out or anything?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. Just seeing some of the highways underwater. I mean that's just crazy to me. You know, it's obviously a lot of rain, and people just need to be safe and all that. But just, I don't know, be smart and stay out of it. But it's just crazy to see it - I mean they're over their limits already and I think more rain is coming.

Q. One question, driving distance is down nine yards. Is that anything that you've thought about?

STACY LEWIS: Well, I've played I think I've had five different drivers in play this year.

Q. Okay. Really?

STACY LEWIS: So I've been - my old driver was getting - it was going to crack soon, so I felt like I wanted to get ahead of the game and find a new driver. And -

Q. What do you mean it was going to crack?

STACY LEWIS: The face cracks, so when you use it too much, the face cracks. So I just was trying to get ahead of the game so I wasn't - because I had one crack at Evian a few years ago and so then I was kind of frantic trying to find something. So I was basically trying to get ahead of the game and played, yeah, I played basically five different drivers. But I've played the last three events with the same driver, so I feel like I'm moving in the right direction.

Q. So starting at Evian last year you have been tinkering to get new ones?

STACY LEWIS: No. That was a couple of years ago at Evian. Another one that I did found, the R1 that I played for a little while, like two years.

Q. So when was it this year that you started -

STACY LEWIS: At the beginning - basically the off season I was working on it. So I was playing I started with an R15 for a week, and then I went to a Mizuno for a week and then a different version of Mizuno for a week, for a couple of weeks. And then I went to the AeroBurner. And then I went to a different AeroBurner at ANA. Or no, I went to the AeroBurner at ANA and then I went to a different lofted AeroBurner after that, and that's the one I've stuck with since then.

Q. So Lotte?

STACY LEWIS: I didn't play Lotte.

Q. Specs or anything different or is it just a matter of finding a shaft and a face you like?

STACY LEWIS: It's just finding the right combination. I didn't like - I had a left miss with the first one at Ocala, which I didn't like. And then - two Mizunos still just - they just weren't right. The misses were not going - you know, the good shots went, but the misses didn't go very far. And then the AeroBurner at ANA was good; it was just a little bit too high, so then we brought the loft down, and now we're on that one.

Q. You don't think it's anything there distance wise? It was just tinkering?

STACY LEWIS: No. It was tinkering with clubs, and I think a lot of it was the Mizuno and the misses there just going shorter. Just I kind of got fed up with it after San Diego. I was like, all right, I can't do this anymore. So I had to find something else. And that's what you're looking for. You're looking for a driver that obviously they're all going to go good when you hit it well, but when you don't hit it well, you still want it to go a pretty good distance. So that's what I'm looking for.

Q. Second on tour in putts. Have you noticed anything there? Is it better this year or is it -

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, the putting's been really good. The ball striking has been a little bit iffy, but if the ball striking was just a little bit better, I think I would have won a little bit more. But putting has been really good, really solid, which I'm happy about. I've been working really hard on it. I worked on it a lot over the off season, so I'm happy to see that coming together.

Q. How much have you gotten to play with Gabby from Arkansas?

STACY LEWIS: We haven't played a lot lately, but usually - she's going to play in the Northwest Arkansas tournament again, so we play there. But I talked to the girls and saw them before they went to the national championship. I was there for media day the day before they left. And she's just - you can tell she's gotten physically stronger. She's taking care of her body. You know, she's kind of crazy about what she eats. She's in the gym six days a week, and she's working really hard. And so I was really proud of her, and to see what she did there the other I don't even know what day that was. On Tuesday.

Q. 66. I think it was the round of the championship.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah. Low round of the championship, final round. I mean that's what you want right there. So hopefully gives her some momentum going into the summer to play well in some big events.

Q. Did you get to see any of Lizette's commentary?

STACY LEWIS: I did not, no.

Q. You missed it.

STACY LEWIS: I did not.

Q. Have you ever played Concession?

STACY LEWIS: No, I haven't but I've heard a lot of things about it.

Q. Looks great out there.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah.

Q. Perfect. All good for me.

STACY LEWIS: All right. Thanks, guys.

The transcript for the above interview is courtesy of ASAP Sports.