Playing her first pro tournament, Lewis charges into lead

Today's final round of the 63rd U.S. Women's Open has shaped up as a battle between the face of American women's golf and the Who's She!? of golf in general.

No. 4-ranked Paula Creamer, the Pink Panther media darling often referred to as the best women's player without a major, shot 69 on a wild Saturday but was upstaged by Stacy Lewis.

And if you don't know Stacy Lewis, hang on.

She was found to have scoliosis -- a curvature of the spine -- at age 11, wore a back brace 18 hours a day for 7 1/2 years, had two 6-inch rods and five screws inserted into her spine when she was 18, doubted whether she would ever play golf again and ... oh yeah, is making her professional debut this week at Interlachen Country Club in Edina.

And her dad, Dale, is caddying for her.

We aren't making this up. No one could make up the story of 23-year-old Lewis, the 255th-ranked women's golfer, what she's gone through and where she is after shooting Saturday's only bogey-free round (67), which left her at 9 under par and one stroke ahead of Creamer.

"When I found out that I needed to have the surgery, I was crying," said Lewis, who was told she would have to have the surgery after she had signed a letter of intent with the University of Arkansas. "I thought I'd never play college golf. I just wanted to play college golf, and that was all I wanted to do. I thought from there I was done."

The Razorbacks honored the scholarship and redshirted Lewis.

"I couldn't bend or twist for six months, or lift more than 5 pounds," said Lewis, a double major in finance and accounting. "So I kind of lost some of my muscle, couldn't swing a golf club, couldn't do any of that. I didn't play a round of golf until nine months."

Lewis, who was born in Toledo, Ohio, and lives in the Woodlands, Texas, went on to win the NCAA Division I championship in 2007. She went 5-0 to lead the American Curtis Cup team to victory at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, this year. She also finished fifth at the Kraft Nabisco Championship -- a women's golf major -- last year and was leading the LPGA Tour event in Arkansas with an opening-round 65 but had it stricken from the record books because the final three rounds were rained out.

"Stacy shot 66 in the final round of the NCAAs two years in a row and she was tied for the lead near the end of the Kraft Nabisco, so she has played well before in big tournaments," said Dale, 51. "She's pretty good under pressure."

Lewis turned pro June 9, the day she won her U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifier. According to an LPGA Tour representative, Lewis would be the first to win a major in her professional debut.

Saturday's leaderboard shifted, twisted and turned on a windy day with greens that were at their most receptive firmness of the week. At one point, 13 players were within two shots of the lead, including a five-way tie at the top.

The day ended with only four within two strokes. Helen Alfredsson, 43, shot 71 and is tied with 19-year-old South Korean Inbee Park (69) at 7 under. No. 2-ranked Annika Sorenstam (72) is at 2 under but is still battling a balky putter. No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa (76) dropped to 4 over in a forgettable week in which she has played the par-5s 15 times in only 1 under.

Dale Lewis, who said he's only on the bag for six events this year before his daughter finds a full-time caddie, said he knew something was special about his daughter's golf game when she was about 12 or 13.

"She started playing when she was 9," Dale said. "When she was about 13, she beat me. I was a little upset actually. But I had to get used to it really quick. Then when she went to college, she started beating me from the same tees. That's when I gave up."

Don't feel bad, Dave. Your daughter has just spent three days beating the best woman golfer on the planet (Ochoa) by 13 shots, one of the best in history (Sorenstam) by eight shots and 153 more of the world's best golfers.

Stacy, who had six birdies, including three on the final five holes, drained about a 30-footer for birdie from the fringe on No. 8, and credited a 12-foot par-saving putt on No. 10 for keeping her round from unraveling.

"It was awesome out there today," said Lewis, who had only 23 putts on Saturday and 27 the day before. "It looked like the hole was huge."

Dale agreed as he walked off the 18th green following his daughter's fist-pumping final-hole birdie.

"How about that round?" he asked reporters. "Who knows, maybe she'll let me keep this job."