Lewis Wins Navistar LPGA Classic


Stacy Lewis carded a 3-under 69 to win the Navistar LPGA Classic. The $1.3 million event began Thursday on the Senator Course at Capitol Hill, a part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, in Prattville, Ala.

The 27-year-old Lewis, who started the final round with a two-shot lead, finished at 18-under 270, two strokes ahead of a hard-charging Lexi Thompson. Thompson, the defending champion, fired a 66 Sunday.

The victory, worth $195,000, was the third of the year for Lewis and her second in Alabama. Her prior wins came in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic in April and the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June. She's now tied with No. 1-ranked Yani Tseng for the most titles on the season with three.

"It's unbelievable," said Lewis, whose 72-hole total was a stroke over the all-time record set by Australian Katherine Hull in 2010. "Winning never gets easier. It might have looked easy out there but it was hard. Every shot was stressful and every hole on this course with one stroke you can make a double easily."

After a bogey on the par-3 second, Lewis played steadier, carding four birdies the rest of the way. The 17-year-old Thompson also got off to an inauspicious start with a bogey on the par-4 first. But the Coral Springs, Fla., native then reeled off seven birdies to put heat on Lewis.

Thompson, who took home $120,962, could have exerted even more pressure on the eventual champion, but missed birdie putts on three of the final four holes; she birdied the 17th. "I just got some weird putts that broke differently than I thought," she said. "Just total misreads. That happens. You get a few goofy putts but I was happy with the shots I hit into those holes."

Sharing third at 273 were South Koreans Mi Jung Hur (68) and Haeji Kang (68) and American Angela Stanford (70). Another stroke back in sixth were Spain's Beatriz Ricari (67) and Australian Sarah Jane Smith (68), while tied for eighth at 275 were South Koreans Meena Lee (67), So Yeon Ryu (68) and Hee Young Park (69).

Other scores included a 73 by Tseng, who ended up tied for 46th at 4-under 284.

For complete scoring details, visit http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.aspx.