American Stacy Lewis closed with a pair of birdies on The Old Course at St Andrews and earned her second major championship at the Ricoh Women\u2019s British Open.<\/p>\n
Playing in the sixth last group out, under sunny skies, the World No.2 fired a final round of 72 to set the target at 208, eight-under-par.<\/p>\n
Na Yeon Choi had set off well and had a three shot lead but then fell away with three bogeys in her last six holes and was one shot behind as she played the 18th hole. The South Korean needed to eagle the last hole to force a play-off but after a nervous wait on the practice green, Lewis could finally celebrate a two stroke win when Choi bogeyed the 18th hole.<\/p>\n
Lewis played the first 36 holes of the championship in five-under-par and the second 36, through windy, testing conditions, in three-under-par, which effectively won her the championship. <\/p>\n
Lewis, who was undefeated in the 2008 Curtis Cup at St Andrews, when she posted a 5-0 record, said that it felt like destiny that she should claim the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt so comfortable out there, I almost felt like it was meant to be,\u201d said Lewis, who ends a run of 10 women\u2019s major championships won by Asian players. She was also the last non-Asian player to win a major when she won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2011.<\/p>\n
Lewis, who is an inspiration to many youngsters who face adversity, wore a back brace for seven and a half years from the age of 11 to 18 in order to correct a curvature in her spine caused by scoliosis. The only time she didn\u2019t wear it was when playing golf. During high school she also underwent surgery to insert a rod and five screws into her back and it still troubles her from time to time.<\/p>\n
She showed her grit and determination, coming through the field with a steady back nine of 36. An eagle putt on 14 slipped by, but the resultant birdie was enough to get her back in contention.<\/p>\n
At the difficult 17th, she played a beautiful 5-iron shot that saw her ball finish around three feet from the hole. She then holed a long putt of around 20 feet on 18 to seal a solid round, after playing 36 holes on the same day, due to the suspension of play on Saturday due to strong winds. Hee Young Park and Choi signed for matching final rounds of 73 and tied for second on six-under-par.<\/p>\n
The new champion went on to say that her love for St Andrews had also been a contributory factor in her success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we came here for the Curtis Cup, we got here in the morning and in was raining sideways but we all put on Jane jackets and rain gear and just walked around.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstantly I just fell in love with it. I think it\u2019s more the history of it than anything, just knowing all the great champions have played here. I mean, golf was started here. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love this golf course more than any other links course I\u2019ve played,\u201d she added. \u201cYou can get rewarded for good shots. There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I was happy being here all week, and I was comfortable and I think that\u2019s a lot of the reason I\u2019m here right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third round leader Morgan Pressel of the USA tied for fourth place with Norwegian Suzann Pettersen on five-under-par. America\u2019s Lizette Salas closed with a 73 to finish alone in sixth place on three under par 285 while Japanese duo Mamiko Higa and Miki Saiki were tied seventh on 286. The leading British player was 2009 champion, Catriona Matthew, from North Berwick, who shot 68 in the delayed third round but then fell back with a closing 78 to finish in a tie for 11th place on level par 288. <\/p>\n
Inbee Park\u2019s bid for the fourth leg of an historical Grand Slam came to an end when she closed with rounds of 74 and 78 for a six over par total of 294. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tough day today,\u201d admitted the World No. 1. \u201cI really got off to a bad start when I 4-putted the 1st hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just glad the tournament is over because I\u2019ve gone through four rounds under pressure. Everybody has been watching me. It feels a bit weird because I get to do an interview when I shot 6-over par today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a relief it\u2019s over,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve never experienced before. It\u2019s been a great experience. I might not have won this week but I\u2019ve learned a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe weather and the mother of nature has to be on your side if you\u2019re going to win the British Open and it didn\u2019t happen for me.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Smyth Salver, awarded to the leading amateur at the Ricoh Women\u2019s British Open, was shared between New Zealand\u2019s Lydia Ko and England\u2019s Georgia Hall after both players finished the Championship on six over par 294.<\/p>\n
World No. 1 amateur, Ko, also won the Smyth Salver last year at Royal Liverpool where she put together rounds of 72, 71, 76 and 78 to finish two shots ahead of England\u2019s Holly Clyburn on nine over par 297.<\/p>\n
The only other time the amateur prize was shared was back in 1993 before the Championship was a Major when England\u2019s Joanne Morley and Patricia Meunier from France tied on 297 at Woburn G & CC.<\/p>\n
Ko, Morley (1989 and 1993) and Scotland\u2019s Bell Robertson (1980 and 1981) are the only three players to win the Smyth Salver twice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
American Stacy Lewis closed with a pair of birdies on The Old Course at St Andrews and earned her second major championship at the Ricoh Women\u2019s British Open. Playing in the sixth last group out, under sunny skies, the World No.2 fired a final round of 72 to set the target at 208, eight-under-par. Na […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,53],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4968","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-showcase"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golfcircus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}