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Stacy's Blog: All of the rookies on the LPGA Tour, have blogs so here's how to follow Stacy's journey during her rookie year. Go to the "Rookie Blog" section of www.lpga.com or go directly to Stacy's latest blog entry through this link:
http://www.lpga.com/entertainment_content.aspx?pid=20073
JUNE IS SCOLIOSIS AWARENESS MONTH
This spring, Stacy took on the role of being the celebrity spokesperson for the Scoliosis Research Society (http://www.srs.org), her new charity. The SRS is the largest organization of its kind devoted to supporting and funding research in spinal deformities. As a former scoliosis patient, Stacy wanted to find a way to facilitate the advancement of treatments for spinal conditions like scoliosis and to provide encouragement to those who are going through what she went through. So, Stacy shot a Public Service Announcement ("PSA") that is airing all around the country on various TV stations, and especially on the Golf Channel and ESPN2.
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June is Scoliosis Awareness Month so look for the PSA on TV, or go to http://www.srs.org and click on "About Stacy Lewis" and then on "Stacy's Public Service Announcement" to see it online.
PLAYING ON TOUR & GIVING BACK
After winning Q-school, Stacy has been busy getting acquainted with all of the new courses and the new routine as a full time touring pro on the LPGA Tour.
She is finding out that playing on tour is not just about playing tournaments. It's also about engaging with fans and giving back, something Stacy is only too happy to do.
So far, she has helped build a house in Williamsburg, Virginia for Habitat for Humanity and helped raise funds and awareness for sick children at the St. Judes golf outing in Springfield, IL.
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CONGRATULATIONS STACY for WINNING Q-SCHOOL & earning your LPGA Tour Card!!!
Amidst perhaps the strongest field ever to seek LPGA status, Stacy won the LPGA Qualifying Tournament by 3 strokes to earn one of the 20 full LPGA Tour membership spots for 2009. Now, she is considered one of the favorites in win the Rookie of the Year award next year. In order to do so, however, she is going to have to beat out a rookie class deeper than any that has ever played on the LPGA tour.
Her competition includes Ji-Yai Shin (3 time LPGA winner in 2008 as a non-member), Vicky Hurst (4 time winner on the Duramed Futures Tour in 2008), Michelle Wie (former teen phenom), Mindy Kim (3 time winner on the Duramed Futures Tour in 2008) Japan's Shiho Oyama (multiple winner on the Japanese LPGA tour) and Amy Yang (19 year old 2 time LET winner) among others.
But, so far for Stacy Lewis, success in life and in golf has never come via the easiest route. Why would this be any different?
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So, with that mindset, Stacy is set to take on her next big challenge and earn her spot at the top of the 2009 LPGA Tour rookie class and maybe even earn her way unto the US Solheim Cup team! She also wants to thank all those people who supported her this year in her quest to get sponsors exemptions as well as those tournaments who gave her a chance to play. She especially looks forward to playing in those tournaments in 2009. Also, she extends a special thank you to her sponsors and to her friends and family in Arkansas, Texas and around the country who have helped her along the way.
It wasn't all that long ago when she was wondering if she would ever be able to play golf again with a freshly implanted metal bar screwed into her back. Now, with the help and encouragement of a lot of people, she is not just playing golf again, but playing it at the highest level!
Spirit of a Fighter
Stacy's route to the top of the US Amateur rankings was not your typical golf journey. From the age of 11, Stacy wore a back brace for 7 1/2 years to correct curvature in her spine from Scoliosis. The only time that she took it off was to play golf. So, for 18 hours a day, she went to school in, ate in, and even slept in a back brace.
At 18, her dedication was rewarded when she was granted a golf scholarship by the University of Arkansas. But her joy proved to be short-lived, when she was informed by her doctor that after 7 1/2 years in the brace, it hadn't worked. The curvature in her spine was measured at more than 40 degrees and would require surgery. Stacy thought that she might never play golf again. She redshirted her freshman year at Arkansas, had her surgery, and after several months of near immobility and 6 months of rehab, she began slowly swinging a club again.
Demonstrating her great determination, Stacy soon earned her way unto the University of Arkansas women's golf team and in 2007, Stacy became the NCAA champion and the #1 amateur in the country.
Why is Stacy Lewis the Best Story in Women's Golf?
Stacy holding the Curtis Cup after posting
a record of 5 wins & no losses and leading the US
Team of amateurs to a win at the Old Course at St.
Andrews (May 2008)
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