LPGA Tour Wins Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge


Stacy Lewis, Cristie Kerr and Natalie Gulbis of the LPGA Tour carded 17-under par Tuesday to win the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge by a shot over the Champions Tour.

This year the event at Rio Secco in Henderson, Nev., was played as two best-balls for each team.

Lewis posted six of her eight birdies on the front nine to get the LPGA off to a hot start; Kerr added three straight birdies starting at the fourth hole. Gulbis tacked on three more birdies on the home half, with Kerr posting birdies on the last two holes to secure the victory for the LPGA, its sixth in the 22 years of the event.

The Champions Tour of Fred Funk, Bernhard Langer and Kenny Perry ended up in second at 16-under. The PGA Tour team of Jason Day, Billy Horschel and Boo Weekley finished third at 8-under. The PGA Tour lost any chance to move up when, on the final hole, Day was out of play, and they were forced to take Weekley's bogey and Horschel's quadruple-bogey as their scores.

Perry had a chance to force extra holes but missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th. "As soon as he (Perry) hit that shot in there, I kind of saw last year happening all over again," Lewis said of 2012, when the PGA Tour team of Day, Davis Love III and Nick Watney edged the same team of women in a playoff.

"I immediately grabbed my glove, and I think all three of us had it in our head that we were going to go to a playoff. It was pretty surprising he missed it, but glad to be on the right side of it this time.

"I made six birdies on the front, so it kind of got us off to a really good start. I didn't make as many birdies on the back side, but Cristie and Natalie kind of held me in there," Lewis added. "The guys can kind of turn it on, it seems, whenever they want to, so we knew coming out of those last three holes we had to make some birdies."

The LPGA Tour team split $500,000, the Champions Tour team $270,000 and the PGA Tour team $230,000.

The PGA Tour has won the event nine times, while the Champions Tour has seven victories.

"We were so close last year, and the last couple years for that matter," Kerr added. "We came out strong, we came out trying to win it and really got the break of Kenny missing the putt on the last hole or we would have been in another playoff.

"We made so many birdies and they seemed to respond on the back nine really strong, and we didn't get lucky, but we got the break when we needed to."

Gulbis, who lives in Las Vegas, was happy with this year's outcome. "We were extra excited (about) the win today because we lost a playoff last year," the 30-year-old said. "So we were in the mix and lost a playoff to the PGA Tour, and it looked like it was almost going to go to playoff again today. So we're pretty excited to win it."