Stacy Lewis wins Kraft Nabisco Championship by three strokes
Stacy Lewis of the United States won the US $2 million Kraft Nabisco Championship by three strokes at the scenic Mission Hills Country Club in California on Sunday. The 26-year-old golfer carded a three-under-par 69 on the final day to post an aggregate total of 13-under-par 275 for the four-round major championship.
World number 28 Lewis was in excellent form throughout the tournament, as she held the top spot on the leader board for the first two rounds. She slipped to second place on the third day, trailing two strokes behind defending champion Yani Tseng of Taiwan. However, four birdies in the final round with a bogey at the par-4 15th, won Lewis the first major championship of the year.
Lewis became only the fourth player in history to claim her maiden career victory by winning a major championship of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour.
She told reporters after the win, "I was shaking, just trying to calm down, my heart was racing, and I was gathering my thoughts. I still had five more shots that I needed to make sure I paid attention to."
Lewis added, “I had a good feeling coming into this week because I love this golf course, and I've played well here before, even when my grandfather died, I was (thinking) there's a reason that happened this week, and there's a reason my parents were here. It all worked out the way it should."
World number one Yani Tseng lost her overnight two-stroke lead after a disastrous round of two-over-par 74 on the final day to post a total aggregate of 10-under-par 278. The 22-year-old Tseng posted two birdies and four bogeys in the fourth round. She scored bogeys at the par-4 4th, par-5 ninth, par-4 16th and par-3 17th respectively.
Tseng expressed her disappointment by saying, "The greens were pretty firm. I found it very hard to adjust my distance and the speed of my putting."
Three Americans tied for the third spot at four-under-par 284, including Katie Futcher, Angela Stanford and Morgan Pressel. The sixth spot is occupied by yet another American, Michelle Wie. She dropped to sixth place after carding a three-over-par 75 on the final day.
Paraguay's sole representative in the tournament, Julieta Granada carded the day’s best round alongside the winner, and finished at her career best seventh spot.
Seven-time major winner and Hall of Famer, Australian Karrie Webb finished at even-par 288. The 36-year-old Webb teed off at the Mission Hills country club after winning two tournaments in a row.
Stacy Lewis received the trophy and winner’s cheque of US $300,000.
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