World No. 1 Lewis aims for another major title

RANCHO MIRAGE, California (AFP) –

Stacy Lewis tees off at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California on March 23, 2013. Lewis will be more concerned with adding another major title to her resume at the Kraft Nabisco Championship this week than with retaining her world No. 1 ranking.

Stacy Lewis will be more concerned with adding another major title to her resume at the Kraft Nabisco Championship this week than with retaining her world No. 1 ranking.

Lewis made her LPGA title debut one to remember when she won the first major championship of 2011 at Mission Hills Country Club, beating then-number one Yani Tseng of Taiwan.

That triumph launched the Texan on a trajectory that saw her supplant Tseng atop the rankings after her triumph at the LPGA Founders Cup in Phoenix earlier this month. She thinks it’s better to worry about winning than staying there.

“There are so many things that I can’t control,” Lewis said. “I can’t control how Yani plays, how In-bee Park plays.

Yoo Sun-young poses for a portrait on March 12, 2013. South Korea’s Yoo is the defending champion at the first major championship of 2013.

“If they go out and play better than me, then I lose the No. 1 ranking… If I go out there and take care of myself, I’ll be at that No. 1 ranking.”

Tseng is also in the star-studded field competing for a $300,000 first prize from a $2 million purse.

It has been more than two years since Tseng arrived at a major championship without the No. 1 ranking, but she insisted she felt comfortable coming in at No. 2.

“The first couple of days were weird,” Tseng admitted of being toppled from the top spot. “I (was) very emotional after that couple of days after I lost world No. 1, but after that I felt, like, total relief.”

Like Lewis, Tseng said the ranking will take care of itself if she focuses on winning.

“I just want to win a tournament,” she said. “I feel good about this week. I feel I have a chance to win, but I just want to go out there and try to do my best, play one shot at a time, and hopefully the results will come.”

Teenaged amateur Lydia Ko will also be in the spotlight, although the New Zealand sensation insists she’s still having fun with her game despite the attention that has come with becoming the youngest winner in US LPGA history.

“Obviously I’m trying my best out here, but I’ve come here for experience,” said the 15-year-old, who earned low-amateur honors at the US Women’s Open and Women’s British Open last year in her previous major championship appearances.

“I think it’s really fun, and I get to see a little bit of what being on tour is like as well. It’s been really fun to be able to play a couple of the tournaments.”

Ko won’t be the youngest player in the field. That distinction belongs to 14-year-old Angel Yin, who was the last to gain a place after she shot a five-under 67 in qualifying on Tuesday at Mission Hills.

South Korea’s Yoo Sun-young is the defending champion, but the 2012 edition of the tournament will be remembered less for her victory than for Kim In-kyung’s stunning loss.

Last year, on the final hole of regulation, Kim rolled her birdie putt within a foot (30 centimeters) of the hole.

Rather than marking and letting her partner finish, Kim went to tap in her par putt. But, her ball did a horseshoe around the cup.

A shocked Kim finally tapped in for bogey, falling into a tie with clubhouse leader Yoo and eventually losing in the playoff.

Kim said she was ready to move on from last year’s disappointment.

“I learned a lot,” said Kim. “I think last year was (a) big turning point of my life of learning and what’s really important. It just gave me (a) different view of it.”