Stacy Lewis is rapidly becoming one of the best women golfers in the world. She is currently the top ranked American woman golfer and is ranked No. 3 in the Rolex World Golf Rankings.
Her website: www.stacysback.com announces her as the “Next Great American Golfer”.
In September, 2007 while just a junior at the University of Arkansas she announced to the golf world that she was a player to watch. She finished T-5 at the Kraft Nabisco, a major championship on the LPGA Tour and won the rain shortened LPGA NW Arkansas Championship.
Pretty heady stuff for a Junior in college.
Stacy had an excellent collegiate career at Arkansas. In her freshman year she won the Southeastern Conference Tournament and was named the SEC Freshman Golfer of the Year.
She won the NCAA Division 1 Championship in 2007 and was selected as Golf Digest’s Amateur of the Year and the National Golf Coaches Association awarded her the Dinah Shore Trophy.
Stacy turned professional in 2008 and joined the LPGA Tour in 2009. While on tour she has earned her reputation as one of the best players on difficult golf courses. She has a win and four top-tens in her last seven majors.
She held off top ranked Yani Tseng and won the 2011 Kraft Nabisco for her first major title and since 2007 Stacy has posted seven top-tens in the 18 major championships that she has entered.
Thus far in 2012, Stacy has two wins, nine top-tens, and has won over $900,000. She is ranked in the top-ten in Greens in Regulation, Putts, Scoring average, and No. 1 in birdies made.
She has done all of this after a battle with Scoliosis as a teenager.
Scoliosis is a medical condition that affects the curvature of the spine. Stacy was diagnosed with the condition at age 11 and was forced to wear a back brace 18 hours per day until she was 18 years old. She only removed the brace to play golf.
After graduation from high school doctors performed a spinal fusion which forced Stacy to red-shirt her freshman year of college and she has not looked back since.
She never allowed her physical disability to become a liability or prevent her from achieving her dream of becoming a professional golfer. Her achievements on the golf course will never compare to what she has overcome just to reach the LPGA Tour.