(30 April 2012 – Mobile, Alabama)
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American Stacy Lewis captured her second LPGA title on Sunday with victory at the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. The margin was one shot over teen-sensation Lexi Thompson with Frenchwoman Karine Icher a further shot back in third.
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rnLewis began the final round with a two shot buffer. Brittany Lincicome started the day closest to her good friend while Icher was three back. Thompson had started a distant five shots behind and needing something special to make an impact.
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rnLewis stretched her lead out to five shots after the perfect start to her final round, two birdies at her opening two holes. She finished blemish-free on the front nine, adding another birdie at the 6th hole to get to 17-under par. Heading to the 10th tee, she had a lead of four shots over Icher, five over Thompson and six over Lincicome who had finished at 1-over for the front nine.
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rnLewis began the back nine with a string of pars and probably tightened up a little as she saw Thompson notching her sixth birdie for the day on the 14th hole, now only two behind. A bogey on the 12th hole put paid to Icher’s challenge but she reclaimed her composure to post birdies at the 14th and 16th holes.
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rnA bogey by Lewis on the 15th came at the same time as Thompson making birdie at the par-5 16th, and all of a sudden, what seemed like a relatively comfortable victory for Lewis had turned into a real battle. Lewis and Thompson were now tied at 16-under par but Lewis had the advantage with the par-5 16th still to come. She made the most of the opportunity to make birdie and Thompson could only manage two pars to finish.
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rnThat left Lewis needing to do the same, which she duly obliged; including a tap-in for par at the last and the victory was hers. Her maiden title came at the first major of 2011, the Kraft Nabisco Championship and it seems that played on her mind a bit. In her press conference she commented, “The second almost feels better than the first. I mean, it&aposs only been a year since I won, but I felt like it&aposs been a long time since then, and I&aposve worked really hard and it&aposs just nice to finally see some results of all the hard work.”
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rnKarrie Webb had the chance to contend on Sunday, entering the final round five shots behind Lewis. A final round of 69 was good enough to climb up to a tie for 4th. Lindsey Wright completed another good week, four rounds under par to wind up in a tie for 9th while Sarah Kemp (T45) and Wendy Doolan (T70) also made the cut.