Lewis spurs LPGA Tour to 3Tour championship

Stacy Lewis shot 7-under 65 to lead the LPGA Tour team to the championship of the 3Tour Challenge on Tuesday.

The LPGA Tour combined for a score of 17 under, edging the Champions Tour by one stroke and beating the PGA Tour by nine strokes.

Lewis (31-34) had eight birdies, including six birdies on the first nine holes at the Rio Secco Golf Club, and one bogey to pace the LPGA Tour toward its first 3Tour win since 2009.

Last year, the LPGA Tour lost a two-hole playoff to the PGA Tour team.

Natalie Gulbis, with four birdies and two bogeys, was next for the LPGA Tour at 2 under. Cristie Kerr, the LPGA’s third golfer, didn’t have her score count on five holes in this two-player, best-ball format that allowed each team to discard one score per hole.

The LPGA Tour took over the lead for good on the fifth hole, which Lewis and Kerr birdied and Gulbis bogeyed. Kenny Perry missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th hole that would have sent the match into a playoff with the LPGA Tour team for the Champions Tour Team.

Perry and Bernhard Langer didn’t score on all 18 holes for the Champions Tour, which was led by Fred Funk at 4 under.

Billy Horschel paced the PGA Tour team, which also included Boo Weekley and Jason Day, at even-par 72 (36-36). The PGA went 5 over on the par-4 18th hole, where Horschel had a quadruple-bogey and Weekley bogeyed.

The LPGA Tour team received $500,000 and the second-place Champions Tour team earned $270,000.

AP