by Jeff Skinner
Stacy Lewis took a five stroke lead into the final round of the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic and she needed every one of them to earn her second LPGA Tour victory. Lewis held off a hard charging Lexi Thompson who shot a seven under 65 to finish one stroke back of Lewis.
Lewis got off to a great start with back to back birdies but saw her lead evaporate as Thompson tied her after Lewis bogeyed the fifteenth. But Lewis birdied the sixteenth to squeak back in the lead by one shot and a pair of closing pars assured her of the win.
Lewis admitted to being a bit off today but still carded a 69 to back up her major championship win at last year’s Kraft Nabisco. “I feel like I’ve been close ever since then just to winning and people say I haven’t been winning, just kind of knocking on the door,” said Lewis. “It’s nice to get it out of the way.
“I fought. I’m exhausted. I’m glad I didn’t have to play more holes.”
Except for a baffling missed cut in Hawaii last week Lewis has had a great season with five top ten finishes in eight tournaments.
Lewis and Thompson are two of the American players that should give the LPGA a boost in the ratings. Lewis has a great back story as she fought off her spine issues as a youth to go on be an All-American at Arkansas and then to a major winner. Thompson is the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and at seventeen has skills and a maturity that will keep her at the top of worldwide golf.
These two could be going at it for a long time.
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