Lexi Thompson Playing in First Match for U.S. Solheim Cup Team as Captain Stacy Lewis Leans on Analytics
ANDALUCIA, Spain — Will this Solheim Cup be a battle of analytics versus gut feelings?
Like AI in the technology world, analytics have been all the rage in golf, with both American Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis and American Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson relying on numbers to aid in the decision-making process of setting pairings.
Lewis said analytics are the starting point for everything she is doing with her team of 12 that is looking for a way to break the recent European stranglehold on the Solheim Cup.
And while she agrees that personalities of players matter as well as smaller issues like the types of golf balls in foursomes, analytics are still a large part of Lewis's game plan and she believes it helps justify decisions in her head as well as with players.
Lexi Thompson has struggled on the LPGA Tour this year but will play immediately on Friday at the Solheim Cup.
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The Friday morning foursomes pairings announced on Thursday afternoon have the fingerprints of analytics on them for the Americans.
| Match/Time | Pairing |
|---|---|
Match 1: 2:10 a.m. ET | Lexi Thompson/Megan Kang (USA) vs. Linn Grant/Maja Stark (Europe) |
Match 2: 2:22 a.m. ET | Danielle Kang/Andrea Lee (USA) vs. Celine Boutier/Georgia Hall (Europe) |
Match 3: 2:34 a.m. ET | Nelly Korda/Allisen Corpuz (USA) vs. Leona Maguire/Anna Nordqvist (Europe) |
Match 4: 2:46 a.m. ET | Ally Ewing & Cheyenne Knight (USA) vs. Charley Hull/Emily K. Pedersen (Europe) |
For two days of practices, Lewis has been receiving strokes-gained results and found that Lexi Thompson has been playing extremely well so far this week.
Players, caddies and others that are part of the team have been impressed with the play of the five-time Solheim Cup veteran, who had been struggling this season on the LPGA Tour.
“With the data and the analytics that's we have, I actually have their strokes gained from the practice over the last two days and she's off the charts right now,” Lewis said. “She's been working really hard the last two months, and I think it was just a matter of time, but the driver's looked great, I mean, just the ball striking looks better than it has in a long time.”
Also, Lewis wanted to pair Danielle Kang with Andrea Lee.
Kang was not sold on the idea, but Lewis explained her thinking, provided Kang with the numbers and sent the two out together Thursday morning.
“When Danielle got done, she goes, 'I get it, I get what you're doing,'” Lewis said. “She's like, it was great today.”
Lewis wants her players to try new things and believes analytics have created a reason other than just thinking it will work.
At the same time, European captain Suzann Pettersen clearly is not a fan of analytics, believing instead in her innate ability to pick the necessary pairings and put them out there.
She offered up the fact that she had one pairing, Linn Grant and Maja Stark decided almost a year ago and that it was cast in stone when she heard Stark say during an interview at the Evian Championship that it would be stupid if she and Grant weren’t paired together.
Unlike Lewis, who reserved the right to pick her pairings later in the week and wait for the data, Pettersen told her starting eight on Monday who they would be playing with.
And while Lewis believes that all 12 should get into competition the first day, Pettersen is not sure for her 12 and may sit some of her players the whole day Friday.
“I mean, as a player, I was somehow into stats, but I was also very much a feel player,” Pettersen said. “But I feel like every decision we've made from literally picking the team to where we stand today has—it's obviously based on facts and then on top of it, and I would like to say it this way, there's an exception to every rule. There's always an exception to every stat.”
Pettersen went on to discuss the fact that her women are humans with a heart and must fit that dynamic into the equation as well.
“They've got to enjoy being out on the golf course for five hours together,” Pettersen said. “So, I mean, there are other elements to the puzzle than just kind of looking at the stats, but I guess you probably feel better when you can base it on statistics and say the statistics kind of matches your gut feel, then it's a no-brainer.”
Pettersen's lack of regard for analytics creates a dichotomy between the styles of the two captains, and the results will bear out over the next three days.
“I know everything about these players,” Pettersen said. “Probably more than they do themselves, of the state of their game.”