Stacy Lewis found herself at a career crossroads in August 2017. Once the top-ranked player in the world, Lewis remained mired in a three-season winless drought. Despite being one of the most consistent players on the LPGA Tour, Lewis had not tasted victory since the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in June 2014. Her lack of victories, however, did not reflect any sort of prolonged slump. On the contrary, Lewis missed only one cut in 83 starts from July 2014 to August 2017 and finished as runner-up an incredible 12 times. Perhaps even more cruelly, she missed out on an Olympic medal finishing just one stroke behind bronze medalist Shanshan Feng at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

It seemed for a time that the influx of new, young talent on the LPGA might prevent Lewis from ever getting back into the winner’s circle. Emerging phenoms such as Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson, Ariya Jutanugarn and Lexi Thompson were becoming frequent champions on the Tour, and the overall depth of competition made winning tournaments harder than ever. Even for one as accomplished as Lewis – a two-time Major winner and holder of 10 other tournament titles – she had to wonder if her days of winning tournaments were behind her. Prior to the ANA Inspiration in March 2016, she speculated on the roots of her struggles to win on the Tour.

“I think a lot of it is mental,” Lewis said. “That drive just hasn’t been there the last maybe six months, if I’m being honest.”

Lewis would eventually find her drive again in the most unexpected or welcome of ways. In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas as a Category 4 storm, resulting in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history. The Houston metropolitan area endured 30 inches of rain, submerging over 400 square miles of Harris County and devastating southeast Texas.

Lewis’s ties to the Houston area run deep. She grew up in The Woodlands, just north of the city, and not far from where she and her husband Gerrod Chadwell, the golf coach at the University of Houston, currently make their home. In fact, Chadwell had to rescue golf clubs and training equipment from his team’s facilities at the Golf Club of Houston, which suffered massive flooding during the storm.

The Cambia Portland Classic, the first LPGA tournament to be played in the aftermath of Harvey, presented Lewis with an opportunity to give back to her community. Prior to the start of play, Lewis announced that she would donate her winnings from the tournament to hurricane relief efforts in Houston. When her 2-under 70 in the first round gave way to an 8-under 64 on Friday, it became apparent that something special was happening in Portland. Her eight-birdie, bogey-free round put her in a first-place tie at 10-under with In Gee Chun and Brooke Henderson.

On Saturday, Lewis put some distance between herself and the field with another stellar performance – this time a 7-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Moriya Jutanugarn. Heading into the final round with victory in sight, Lewis said that being able to win the tournament would be one of the most special wins of her career given the stakes involving her pledge.

“I kind of put all the eyeballs on me and put some pressure on myself,” Lewis said, “so it’s nice to see myself performing, too.”

If Lewis felt any pressure on Sunday, it would have come from her playing partner Chun, who started the day at 13-under and made up three strokes on Lewis on the back nine to pull within one after 16 holes. Seasoned LPGA followers had to wonder if Lewis could withstand both the pressure to win for Houston and the hard-charging Chun. Lewis held firm with pars on 17 and 18, and in what she called one of the shots of her life, Lewis found the 18th green from a fairway bunker, hitting the approach to about 25 feet to ensure a two-putt for victory. For the first time since June 2014, Lewis dug deep for the win and earned perhaps the most satisfying victory of her career.

Her husband, who flew in on Sunday to surprise her, greeted Lewis after she sank the winning putt in one of the most touching celebratory moments in recent memory. In addition to her own $195,000 donation, two of Lewis’s sponsors also stepped up in a big way. KPMG offered to match her check, and Marathon agreed to donate $1 million in Lewis’s honor to hurricane relief in Houston. The Cambia Portland Classic, despite not being a Major Championship, may well have been the most consequential tournament Lewis has ever or will ever win.

“We’re going to be able to help rebuild houses and get people their homes back,” Lewis said. “That’s more important than anything.”

Travis

Editor’s Note: This article is one of the excellent series of articles by Travis Puterbaugh and the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum describing the stories and background of women’s golf artifacts and displays from the Museum’s collection. See the complete series here.

Travis Puterbaugh is the Curator of the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. He graduated from Loyola University of New Orleans with a B.A. in Communications, the University of South Florida with an M.A. in History, and has worked in the museum industry for 14 years. Travis considers getting to walk inside the ropes during Day One of the 2016 International Crown as the highlight of his time working for the Hall of Fame. Follow Travis on Twitter at @WGHOFCurator.

All photos courtesy of the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum