Stacy Lewis: "I’m really not supposed to be here"

Beth Ann Baldry reports on Stacy Lewis' RR Donnelly win, improbable in so many ways, including Lewis unseating Yani Tseng atop the world rankings.

Baldry writes:

It was quite a 24-hour swing for Lewis, who found out after Saturday’s round that she had incurred a two-stroke penalty under Rule 13-4 after Wilson tested the surface of a fairway bunker on No. 16 with his feet. It widened Lewis’ deficit behind Miyazato to four, and left Wilson, a caddie of 21 years and big brother to Stacy, absolutely gutted.

“It’s a huge weight,” Wilson said after the victory. “I do everything I can to get her into the winner’s circle. ... It was devastating.”

Lewis even thanked the viewer who called in her Saturday violation. Take that, PGA Tour whiners!

The press room interview comments on video, if you don't believe me:

Update on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 08:59 PM by Geoff

**Alan Shipnuck profiled Lewis in this week's SI Golf Plus.

Comments

[greg]

Quite a Sunday. Good for/on her.

[Ted Ray's Pipe]

Stacy is a class act. Good for her. Good for women's golf. Good for all of golf...

[3foot1]

For those of you who haven't heard, she also donated $50k of this week's winnings to junior golfers.

[digsouth]

I haven't read any of it, but I saw the real time ''episode'', and it sure looked like he went in to the bunker to look at the lie; I did NOT see him ''testing'' the soil. Am I wrong?

Congratulations to Stacy; I called this 3 years ago!

[Pasaplayer]

Judy Rankin nailed it in he broadcast: There ay b many inspirational achievements in sport, but Stacy Lewis' stand out for all she finally achieved following the overwhelmingly duff hand sh was dealt at birth. True grit.

[DTF]

Great story and accomplishment, good onya Stacy. Happy for her caddie too...woulda really sucked for him if that mistake cost her the title and the top ranking.

digger, there's video of him rubbing his right foot around kind of digging it in to test sand depth. If he had simply walked in, looked at the lie, and walked out -- no problem. But there was all sorts of other foot movements going on... Makes me wonder how many times they may have broken that rule in the past?

[NRH]

Once again, Shipnuck's creep factor is in full bloom:

"She looked glamorous in heels and a colorful minidress. After getting Lewis’s autograph, one middle-aged gent said to a friend, “You see those thigh muscles? She’s definitely an ath-o-lete.” The women cooed over the deep bronze of her gams and giggled at the blinding white tops of her feet, the sock-tan that is the bane of the LPGA player’s existence."

[Colin MacGillivray]

Another stupid rule. If she had addressed the ball, made the same action with her feet to take her stance, it's not infringing rule 13-4.

[Chico]

Impressive

[3foot1]

Thanks, NRH, for pointing out Shipnuck's weirdness.

While we're at it, why is a Golf Channel creep calling Stacy, a 28-year-old woman, a "girl"? These guys are jerks.

[gov. lepetomane]

What a ton of positive pr she garnered with her actions.
I say this, in no way doubting the sincerity of her comments or behavior.
She has gained a fan.

As for the SI Golf Plus reference . . . additional affirmation for my non renewal of SI 5 years ago, after 35+ years of continuous subscription.