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American ace Lewis claims second major title with St Andrews triumph
Lew beauty: Stacy Lewis poses with the Women’s British Open trophy on the Swilcan Bridge in St Andrews
Stacy Lewis survived a marathon final day to win the Ricoh Women’s British Open over the Old Course at St Andrews.
The 28-year-old American birdied the final two holes to earn a deserved two-shot win over South Korean duo Hee Young Park and Na Yeon Choi in the fourth ladies’ major of the season.
After strong winds almost completely wiped out play on Sunday, the majority of the field were forced to play 36 holes on Sunday to determine the winner and, after three rounds, Lewis found herself one shot adrift of her compatriot Morgan Pressel.
However, when Pressel slipped to a 76 in her final round, the door was left open for Lewis to claim her second major and she wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass her by, carding a level-par 72 to take the title.
In doing so, she became the first American to win the Ricoh Women’s British Open since Sherri Steinhauer in 2006 and ended a run that had seen Asian players Jiyai Shin (2011 and 2012) and Yani Tseng (2010) claim the title in the last three years.
Indeed, the American’s win ended a sequence of ten consecutive Asian victories in the women’s majors which had started after Lewis herself won her first major at the Kraft Nabisco Championship back in 2011 and stretched right through to last month when Inbee Park claimed her third major title of the season at the US Women’s Open.
“This is just crazy,” said Lewis after her win. “I was just hanging in there all day and 17 and 18 happened so fast that I don’t know if it has really hit me yet. My patience won it for me today. It was just so hard. The wind was brutal. I never thought for a second that birdieing the last two holes was even possible.”
Lewis came to St Andrews having failed to claim a top-25 finish at any of the season’s previous three major championships but the world No.2 quickly got into her stride with an opening five under par 67 and then added rounds of 72 and 69 to go into the final round on eight-under.
Those who witnessed her performance in the 2007 Curtis Cup at St Andrews would not have been surprised by her victory. She claimed five points out of five in America’s victory that year and added that she drew on those memories to help her win her win her second major title.
“When we came here for the Curtis Cup, we got here in the morning and in was raining sideways but we all put on jackets and rain gear and just walked around,” she explained.
“Instantly I just fell in love with it. I think it’s more the history of it than anything, just knowing all the great champions have played here. I mean, golf was started here.
“I love this golf course more than any other links course I’ve played. You can get rewarded for good shots. There’s not any crazy bunkers right in the dead centre of the fairways. You can at least kind of play round things and get rewarded for good shots.
“I think I was happy being here all week, and I was comfortable and I think that’s a lot of the reason I’m here right now.”
THE Ricoh Women’s British Open ended with the announcement of both the American and European teams for the Solheim Cup match taking place later this month at Colarado Golf Club.
The full line-ups are as follows:
EUROPE: Suzann Pettersen (Norway), Carlota Ciganda (Spain), Catriona Matthew (Scotland), Caroline Masson (Germany), Beatriz Recari (Spain), Anna Nordqvist (Sweden), Karine Icher (France), Azahara Munoz (Spain), Jodi Ewart-Shadoff¹ (England); Caroline Hedwall¹ (Sweden), Giulia Sergas¹ (Italy), Charley Hull¹ (England).
USA: Stacy Lewis, Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Jessica Korda, Lexi Thompson, Angela Stanford, Brittany Lincicome, Brittany Lang, Morgan Pressel, Lizette Salas², Michelle Wie¹, Gerina Piller¹.
¹ denotes captain’s pick.
² denotes qualifier from world rankings.
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