North Texas Shootout Preview and TV Schedule

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Apr 5, 2015; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA; Stacy Lewis plays a shot out of the rough on the 16th during the final round of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills CC – Dinah Shore Tournament Course. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Stacy Lewis is getting warmed up to defend her title at the third edition of the Tour’s Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC at the Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas.  It’s a homecoming of sorts for the top-ranked American golfer who occasionally sports a classic ten-gallon cowboy hat to make good on her claim of Texan roots.

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Last year Lewis held off South Korean Meena Lee’s final round charge by shooting the low round of the day with a 7-under 64 to clinch her ninth career LPGA Tour victory and first of the 2014 season. She finished at 16-under 268 and six shots clear  Lee.  She may have been spurred on by her young nephew who sported a t-shirt announcing that “My Aunt Plays Better Golf Than Your Aunt” as he followed her progress from just outside the ropes.  Lewis celebrated her win with several family members and her college coach in her home state of Texas.

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Lewis will face new challengers this year: Lydia Ko, who’s just successfully defended her Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic title by delivering a stunning final round; Sei Young Kim and Hyo Joo Kim, rookies who’ve already notched wins and are proving to be a threat every time they tee it up; Inbee Park, Lewis’s historic rival for the top of the Rolex Rankings, who’s also been pushed off the top by Lydia Ko; and Japan’s Sakura Yokomine, another member of the 2015 rookie class who got off to a slow start with three missed cuts but who seems to have found her rhythm and is looking like she, too, is ready to challenge the top of the leaderboard.

Lewis, who’s finished outside the top-10 only twice this season and who has runner-up finishes at the Honda LPGA Thailand, JTBC Founders Cup and ANA Inspiration, is still hunting her first 2015 victory and she’d very much like to notch that victory on home ground this week.

Las Colinas is an ideal venue for the North Texas Shootout.  Ranked by AvidGolfer Magazine as one of the best private club tracks in the country and by the Dallas Morning News as among the top 100 courses in the state, Las Colinas provides a seemingly endless series of subtle challenges — crafted and mounded fairways and natural desert fauna just beyond the short grass, two lakes that will come into play, and abundant greenside bunkers — that will give the field opportunities to put their A Games to the test.

Media Coverage

Golf Channel will provide daily coverage of the North Texas Shootout: Thursday, April 30 and Friday, May 1, 10:30am-1:30pm; Saturday, May 2, 1-3pm, and Sunday, May 3, 2-5pm.  Additionally Golf Channel’s Golf Live Extra will stream the Saturday round from 3-4pm.  All times are ET.

You can also follow the action live on the LPGA’s electronic leaderboard and ProGolfNow will provide ongoing commentary and updates throughout the tournament.

Ladies Dream Golf will also host a post-tournament YouTube hangout Sunday evening, beginning 30 minutes after completion of the final round.

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