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ROGERS, Ark. Clay Harbor Black Jersey . -- Stacy Lewis made a 7-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday in the NW Arkansas Championship to finally win an official event in her adopted state. The top-ranked Lewis, the Texan who played at the nearby University of Arkansas, earned an unofficial win in the rain-shortened 2007 tournament as an amateur. On Sunday, she closed with a 6-under 65 for a one-stroke victory. Lewis birdied three of her final holes for her third LPGA Tour victory of the year and 11th overall. She finished at 12-under 201 at Pinnacle Country Club. Lydia Ko, Cristie Kerr and Angela Stanford tied for second. Ko finished with a 65, and Kerr and Stanford shot 67. Second-round leader Michelle Wie shot a 73 to tie for eighth at 8 under. Kerr had a chance to match Lewis at 12 under with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th. However, her putt came up short. Then, after So Yeon Ryu failed to make an eagle on the final hole, Lewis win was secured. Ryu ended up fifth at 10 under after a 69. Lewis won the Shoprite Classic this month as well as the North Texas Shootout in May. The two-time major winner has long said, though, how much pressure she felt to win in Arkansas -- where she was a four-time All-American in college and is greeted throughout rounds by calls of "Woo Pig Sooie." She was tied for the lead entering the final round last year before finishing in a tie for fourth, but her final birdie spree finally secured her sought-after win Sunday. Wie began the final round with a two-shot lead after back-to-back 5-under 66s, but she missed short birdie putts on the first two holes and struggled to a 1-over front nine -- capped by a three-putt bogey on the ninth. The whirlwind media tour following last weeks win at the U.S. Womens Open appeared to finally catch up after that with Wie, who followed with bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11 to effectively end her contention. She finished with 35 putts after needing 28 the first round and 29 in the second. With Wie coming back to the field, several players climbed up the leaderboard and into contention on the back nine -- with Lewis, Ko, Kerr and Stanford part of a four-way tie atop the leaderboard at one point. Lewis began the tournament 2 over after her first four holes Friday, but she closed by shooting 14 under over her final 68 holes. She took advantage of the opening with Wies stumble and vaulted into the solo lead at 11 under with a birdie on the par-4 16th. Ko and Kerr answered with birdies to climb back to part of a three-way tie at 11 under, but Lewis had the last answer -- a 7-foot left-to-right birdie putt on No. 18 that resulted in a huge ovation from the pro-Arkansas gallery and a fist pump and sigh of relief from Lewis. Lewis putted 25 times Sunday, a day after needing only 24 putts in the second round. Chella Choi briefly was tied for the lead early in the round after a hole-in-one on the 166-yard par-3 sixth hole. She finished with a 69 to tie for sixth at 9 under. Clay Harbor Jersey . The game will be made up on Thursday as part of a day-night doubleheader. Tickets for the Wednesdays game will be honoured for the 1:05 p. Andre Branch Black Jersey . Salamida, 29, has played the last four seasons with the Goldeyes. Returning to the team halfway through last season, he went 7-1 with a 2. KITCHENER, Ont. -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Sweeting claimed a berth in the Page playoffs on Friday, beating Tracy Horgan of Sudbury, Ont., 5-3 in one of a pair of womens C-Event finals at the Olympic curling pre-trials. "It feels great," said Sweeting, who will face Calgarys Cheryl Bernard on Saturday. "We played really well today and we want to keep it up tomorrow and put ourselves in a position today. Thats what we did today. The team played really well, so to come out on top is confidence-boosting for sure." On Friday night, Sweeting had a tight game going with Horgan, who represented Ontario at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, through six ends. But with Horgan holding a slim 2-1 lead, Sweeting was able to make a clutch hit to score a game-changing three, and never looked back, although she needed to make a delicate tap with her final rock of the 10th end to nail down the win. Bernard, meanwhile, prevailed 10-8 in an extra end over Cathy Auld of Mississauga, Ont., in a topsy-turvy affair that saw Bernard race to a 5-2 lead through four ends, then fall behind 8-6 through nine. But Bernard made a spectacular triple takeout to score a game-tying deuce in the 10th, and then stole the winning pair in 11 when Auld was wide on her game-winning draw to bite the button. The winner of the Sweeting-Bernard game will move into Sundays qualifying game for the Roar of the Rings Canadian curling trials in Winnipeg -- the event that will decide Canadas teams for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Ziggy Hood Black Jersey. "We were definitely here to win," said Sweeting. "Were in a position to do that, so we have definitely met our expectations." The first womens Trials qualifier will be decided Saturday night between A-Event winner Kelly Scott of Kelowna, B.C., and B-Event winner Renee Sonnenberg of Grande Prairie, Alta. The loser of that game will play the Sweeting-Bernard winner. In mens play, reigning Brier champ Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., ran his win streak to four games on Friday night with a 9-6 win over Saskatoons Steve Laycock in the B-Event final. That set up a tantalizing Page playoff A-B game Saturday against A-Event winner John Morris and his Kelowna/Vernon, B.C., team. Jacobs took control of his game Friday night by scoring three in the fifth end, and then took advantage of a Laycock miscue in the ninth to score a deuce out of thin air. "Mission accomplished," said Jacobs. "Were in that A-B game, we have two shots to go to the Trials. We really came out and played well today, and we got a few breaks honestly. But sometimes you need those breaks to get the wins, and well take it." In C-Event play, meanwhile, Jake Higgs of Glencoe, Ont., stole a big deuce in the eighth end -- the turning point in an 8-7 win over Joe Frans of Bradford, Ont. Higgs advanced to a C-Event semifinal clash with 2006 Olympic gold-medallist Brad Gushue of St. Johns, N.L., while Frans was eliminated with the loss. cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
