Open title just another obstacle for Lewis to hurdle

EDINA, Minn. -- It was the most nervous moment in Stacy Lewis' life.

Well, to this point, anyway.

Stacy Lewis is lining up an historic victory. (AP)

Teeing off four weeks ago as part of the American contingent on the opening day of the Curtis Cup matches at historic St. Andrews in Scotland, Lewis flat butchered her opening 3-wood perhaps 100 yards, had to lay up in front of the famous burn that fronts the green, then chunked a pitch shot that unintentionally bounced short of the creek, then hopped and rolled within a couple of feet of the hole.

Hey, routine.

"I was just trying to make people laugh," she said. "Ease the tension some."

There will be none of the former and plenty of the latter as Lewis tries to make history on Sunday by becoming the first player ever to win the U.S. Women's Open in her first professional start.

Lewis, a four-time All-American from Arkansas who owns a stellar college resume that includes the 2007 NCAA individual title, became the first player ever to finish with a 5-0 mark at the Curtis matches, then turned pro before she played in her Open sectional qualifier June 9.

Lewis, 23, shot a nearly flawless 6-under 67 and will play in the final group Sunday alongside fellow Yankee Paula Creamer, with whom she last played in a junior event five or six years ago in Alabama. Creamer, 21, vaguely recalls the tournament, but not much about Lewis, who leads her by a stroke at 9 under.

"That was a long time ago," Creamer said.

It was another lifetime for Lewis, given that her golf dreams were very much in doubt a few months later after she underwent major back surgery to rectify a scoliosis problem that had first been diagnosed at age 11.

After wearing a plastic back brace 18 hours per day for 7 1/2 years as an adolescent, her back still hadn't sufficiently straightened. Five years ago this month, a few days after finishing high school, Lewis had a six-inch titanium rod affixed to her spine, held in place by screws and pieces of a rib that was cut into pieces and used as a sort of gasket between the affected vertebra.

Doctors advised beforehand that paralysis was part of the surgical risk.

"Absolutely when I found out I was going to have surgery, I thought I was done playing golf forever," she said.