www.nwaonline.net/articles/2009/08/17/golf/081809glflpgamediaday.txtROGERS — Stacy Lewis has savored her recent "downtime."
The former University of Arkansas standout and current LPGA Tour rookie has enjoyed spending most of the past two weeks at The Blessings Golf Club in Johnson. The LPGA is on summer vacation, but Lewis hasn't slowed down.
Not much, anyway.
She did take a break Monday morning and drove to Pinnacle Country Club for several interviews during a media event for the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. Lewis later played the course Monday with a few of her former Arkansas teammates.
"It's nice to just practice and not have to play all the time," said Lewis, who resides in 44th place ($227,285) on the LPGA money list. "My golf swing had gotten off track. And It's hard to make changes in your golf swing when you're playing week in and week out.
"So it's been great to get to work on things."
Lewis, who recorded her best finish this season (tied for fourth) at the Wegmans LPGA in late June, has taken advantage of her practice time and "found" her swing.
"These last two weeks, I've hit so many balls," Lewis said. "A lot of hours. I've been going out at 7 in the morning just because it's been hot. They have these big baskets for the balls, and I hit two of them this one time. Everybody was like, 'Are you done yet?' But I needed to do it and get some confidence back."
Monday became the fourth time Lewis played PCC since the course reopened on June 1. Lewis said that she shot her best round, 3 under par, last week and that she couldn't wait for the NW Arkansas Championship.
Lewis must travel to Portland, Ore., and Calgary, Alberta, for tournaments the two weeks before the NW Arkansas Championship.
"I'm sure the tournament will be here pretty quickly," Lewis said. "It's going to be busy right before the tournament."
She insisted she'd be ready for the new challenges PCC presented.
"The course is playing harder for sure," Lewis said.
"The rough's not quite as bad, but the bunkers are more in play, which I like. (PCC head professional) Paul (Eiserman) said they had the highest scores ever at the (recent men's) club championship. If you hit it to the right spots on the greens you can make some putts, but you can get penalized pretty quickly, too."
Lewis said the course would make the world's top women's golfers think more than usual Sept. 11-13.
Jay Allen, the NW Arkansas Championship's tournament chairman, agreed with Lewis' assessment. As members of the media embarked on a golf round Monday at PCC, Allen said he couldn't wait to see Lewis compete with a "stellar field," which will include all four of the LPGA Tour's 2009 major champions.
"It's no question a better field than we've had by several notches," Allen said. "We're going to have, barring an injury or family emergency of some kind, we're going to have all the top players here with the exception of Lorena Ochoa."
