Stacy Lewis - World Number 1

  

Stacy Lewis wakes up today as the new World Number 1! She jumped from 3^rd   to 1^st with an impressive comeback to take victory yesterday in the LPGA Founders Cup.

Stacy is a determined young lady who was diagnosed with scoliosis at 11 years old and endured major back surgery when a brace failed to correct the curvature of her spine.

''I was going into surgery to put a rod and five screws in my back,'' Lewis said. ''That was just 10 years ago. That's not normal, that's not supposed to happen. I mean, I'm not, I'm really not supposed to be here. People with metal in their back, how do you play golf? I don't know. I don't know how. I don't know why I'm here. I know that there's a reason and I know that everything happens for a reason.''

 A three-stroke swing on the 16th hole turned the tournament around  a day after Lewis was penalized two strokes for her caddie's blunder on the short par 4.
On Sunday, Lewis took a two-stroke lead with a birdie after Miyazato made a double bogey following an errant approach shot that left her with an unplayable lie in a desert bush.
Miyazato took an unexpected four-stroke lead over Lewis and Jee Young Lee into the final round when Lewis was penalized after play Saturday when it was ruled that caddie Travis Wilson tested the sand before Lewis played out of a bunker on No. 16.
''I wasn't even mad at him because he didn't do anything on purpose,'' Lewis said. ''I just felt really bad for him just because all the stories were 'Stac Lewis caddie, Stacy Lewis' caddie.' The spotlight was on him and he never wants that. We were so motivated today.''
Miyazato was A stroke ahead on the 16^th Miyazato was seeming in perfect position after splitting the fairway on the 307-yard hole. But the Japanese star's pitching wedge sailed left hit on the bank near the edge of the green and rolled into the desert bush.
''My shot was like totally in between clubs,'' Miyazato said. ''I hit the pitching wedge, but my instinct said that it was an easy 9, so it was a little bit indecisive and that's why I pulled my shot.''
''I decided I would take a drop almost like in a bunker position and I thought we had that little backstop behind the pin, so I thought I could make it stop a little bit more,'' Miyazato said. ''It was kind of a little flat when I dropped, so it was hard.''
Lewis, a 12-time winner at the University of Arkansas, found the right fairway bunker off the tee, hit to 15 feet and holed the birdie putt.
''I was shocked that she hit the shot she did,'' Lewis said. ''That is not like Ai at all. She's green, green. I mean, it's boring to play with her because she hits so many greens.''
Lewis added an 18-footer on the par-3 17th for her third straight birdie.
''I was certainly surprised she finished the way she did, but to make those two putts I did on 16 and 17 was pretty unbelievable,'' Lewis said. ''I'm really speechless. I played great and I was super motivated from all that happened yesterday and just happy for Travis.
''Weird things happen when you play enough golf rounds and I told him that over and over and over again. He would have felt horrible if we lost by two, so that's why I just put the dagger in and made some more putts there coming in.''