Just 19 days after turning professional, American Stacy Lewis stole the limelight from the game's best players by grabbing a one-shot lead in the US Women's Open third round on Saturday. Rolling the ball beautifully on the difficult greens at Interlachen Country Club, Lewis fired a flawless six-under-par 67 to take control of the third women's major of the year. The 23-year-old, who earlier this month led the US amateurs to Curtis Cup victory over Britain & Ireland, sank a curling 10-footer to birdie the last for a nine-under total of 210. As her ball disappeared into the cup, she bent at the knee and pumped her right fist in celebration. Lewis ended a blustery day one ahead of American world number four Paula Creamer (69). Lewis turned professional on June 9 to compete in a sectional qualifier in her home state of Texas for this week's US Women's Open. She won that qualifier by four shots to keep her dream month alive. Three off the pace after the weather-delayed second round ended earlier on Saturday, Lewis birdied the second, fourth and eighth to create a log-jam of five players atop the leaderboard. Out in three-under 33, she picked up further shots at the 14th, 15th and the last to wrest the initiative from a clutch of much more experienced players. Creamer failed to birdie the last two par-fives to stay one shot behind at eight under. Swede Helen Alfredsson held the outright lead for much of the afternoon before dropping back into a tie for third at seven under after returning a 71. Level with Alfredsson was South Korean Park Inbee (71) who tied for fourth in last year's US Open at Pine Needles. – Reuters __
