Stacy Lewis romps to victory in Japan after birdie binge
American Stacy Lewis stormed to victory at the Mizuno Classic 2012 after she made a dramatic charge in the final round by shooting 10 birdies.
Lewis, who got off to a slow start at the three-round LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) tournament at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club, Shima-s**+, Mie, Japan, was standing seven
strokes behind South Korean Bo-Mee Lee in the second round.
Lee had grabbed a solo lead after carding a 64 in the second round.
The American star posted a 70 in the second round, but when she moved into the final round on Sunday, her game quickly switched to an aggressive mode.
Lewis kicked off the round by draining two back-to-back birdies on the first and second hole. She, however, faltered on the third hole, carding a bogey.
She quickly regained her momentum and started boosting her score. A birdie on the par-4 fourth helped her adjust to the conditions on the course.
The first two rounds saw a bit windy conditions on the course, with players struggling to stay focused on their short game. However, the last day was relatively calm as modest winds swept
through the course all day.
On the back nine, Lewis impressed the Japanese spectators with a birdie binge. She rattled off a birdie on the 10th, but had to suffer a bogey on the difficult par-3 11th.
She then posted two straight birdies.
Lewis sent the spectators shouting in appreciation after she sank three consecutive birdies on 16th, 17th and 18th hole.
Sharing her thoughts at the end of the tournament on Sunday, Lewis said that she was happy that she managed to come into contention in the final moments. She said her putting remained good
on every hole.
“It was awesome. I felt it was coming yesterday, like I played really solid I just didn’t make any putts. But to makes those three putts I made coming down the stretch was unbelievable. Hopefully
I hold on to that lead,” said Lewis who has now racked up four LPGA titles in the current season.
“I didn’t really think I was playing this well coming into the week but I just started playing better and better every day. Putts just started falling today and it was meant to be”.
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