By Jay Betsill
Following six runner-up finishes in her previous 16 tournaments, Stacy Lewis left nothing to chance on Sunday with a final round 7-under 64 at Las Colinas Country Club to win the second edition of the North Texas LPGA Shootout. The win, which was Lewis’ ninth career LPGA Tour victory and her first since the Women’s British Open last August, moved The Woodlands resident up to No. 2 in the world rankings.
“It’s awesome,” said Lewis. “It’s relief more than anything. I’ve been so close the last few months, you know, maybe if I win one of those, I don’t get it done here. So I think it was all meant to be. Just to be here with my family.”
Lewis held a share of the lead with Meena Lee to start the day, but a birdie on No. 3 got her a little separation and a 25-foot eagle putt on the 7th hole to extend her lead to three shots. The biggest threat of the day came from Michelle Wie, who fired a final round 67 for her third top-5 finish of the season.
Another big story from the second LPGA event held in Las Colinas was the stellar play of Natalie Gulbis. Gulbis shot a six-under 65 to sit at -7 and near the top of the leaderboard on Friday afternoon. Gulbis has long been one of the most popular players on tour in spite of having not won since the 2007 Evian Masters in France.
“Golf is fun when you have days you’re playing well,” Gulbis said. “You hit good shots and you try to make as many birdies as you can, and I got to enjoy that today. We’ll see what happens over the weekend.”
Gilbis would shoot a 71 followed by a 74 to finish at -4 in a tie for 19th place.
Notables in the field included Lexi Thompson ( T6, -7), Christie Kerr (T6, -7), Christina Kim (T6, -7), Suzann Pettersen (T6, -7) and defending champion Inbee Park (T14, -5).
Next up on the Dallas-Fort Worth golf calendar is the HP Byron Nelson Championship (May 15-18) in Las Colinas and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (May 22-25) in Fort Worth.