WATERLOO, Ontario — Stacy Lewis matched her best round of the season with a 7-under-par 64 to complete the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic on Sunday.
Lewis’ 64, which matched the 64 she shot Friday to bounce back from a first-day 72, brought her one shot short of a four-way playoff won by Brittany Lang, who made birdie on all three extra holes, each of which were played on the par-5 18th at 6, 354-yardGrey Silo Golf Course.
Lewis settled for a tie for fifth, good for $48,610, her ninth top-10 finish in 12 events. A victory Sunday would have catapulted Lewis past World No. 1 Yani Tseng heading into this week’s NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.
“Yeah, if I could go back and redo round one, I think I would be in a little better spot,” Lewis said. “I’m just proud of the way I came back and finished it out really strong.”
Instead, Lewis will remain at No. 2 on the LPGA money list with $906,299, less than $100,000 behind Tseng, the NW Arkansas Championship’s two-time defending champion, who has won $1,005,527.
But Lewis said she is still looking forward to the tournament played less than 30 miles from the University of Arkansas campus.
“It’s going to be a busy week, but I love getting back home,” Lewis said. “My family and friends will all be there. It’s such a fun week for me.”
For Lang, the playoff was particularly enjoyable, especially after missing a birdie putt for victory on the 18th hole in regulation, leaving her tied with South Korean players Hee Kyung Seo, Inbee Park and Chella Choi at 16-under 286.
Choi was eliminated on the first extra hole, and Park dropped out on the second.
“I can’t believe it took me seven years to win a tournament out here,” Lang said. “I hadn’t been that good under pressure and I’m getting better, and I’m so thankful that it happened this week and I’ll only get stronger from here.”
On the third extra hole, Lang hit her approach into a green side bunker and blasted out to 6 feet to set up her winning birdie putt.
“The last putt to win, I felt way better than I did in regulation,” Lang said.
Lang closed with her second consecutive 67, Choi had a 63, Seo a 67, and Park a 69.
“Today wasn’t the best day for playing today,” Park said. “I left a lot of putts out there, I think. Today was just not my day. Maybe the next time.”
Lewis, who is ranked No. 2 in the world, shot 72 in the first round on Thursday, but her second 64 in three days moved her to 15 under with U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu, who also shot 64. Lewis shot 35 on the front nine, and strung together birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 14 and15. But a missed putt on No. 16 hurt her chances of reaching the playoff.
“It was a good putt. It broke right over the top edge. I hit it right where I wanted to and it’s kind of how a lot of putts have gone for me this week, just kind of right over the edge,” Lewis said. “But I kind of found a way to get it done today and still posted a pretty good score.”
Lewis ended her round with an eagle on the par-5 18th by holing a chip shot to finish the back nine in 29.
“I was about 30 yards from the hole and I was just trying to get it close,” Lewis said. “I was back into the wind, so I knew I had a pretty good shot of getting it close. It went all the way around the hole and fell in, so I thought that was going to lip out, too, and it finally stayed in and it was a good way to finish.”
Lang, Seo and Park, playing together in the final threesome at Grey Silo, all had a chance to win in regulation, but settled for pars on the finishing hole to set up the playoff.
“I was just extremely nervous on the last hole to make that putt in regulation and it was just, my hands were shaking, it wasn’t a good putt, but I gathered myself,” Lang said. “And it was a really good experience for me to have that playoff go on that long because it was just good to be in the hunt and in the thick of things and it was a good practice for me.”
China’s Shanshan Feng, coming off a major victory two weeks ago in the LPGA Championship, was another stroke back along with Anna Nordqvist. Feng had a 66, and Nordqvist a 67.
Karen Stupples (Arkansas State) shot 76 and was tied for 68th at 3 over. She earned $2,612.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press and LPGA.com.
Up next WHAT NW Arkansas Championship WHEN Friday-Sunday WHERE Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers DEFENDING CHAMPION Yani Tseng
Sports, Pages 13 on 06/25/2012