USA's Stacy Lewis finishes just short of bronze

RIO DE JANEIRO — The USA’s Stacy Lewis came within an eyelash of playing for the bronze medal in a playoff Saturday in the final round of the women’s tournament at the Olympic Golf Course.

But it was a whole day — Friday — that kept her from the medal podium.

Lewis left her birdie putt on the final hole on the left edge and instead of making a crucial birdie she settled for a tap-in par. That capped a 5-under-par 66 that left her at 9 under — one shot behind bronze medalist Shanshan Feng.

But it was her windswept third-round 76 that kept her from a medal.

“To have a good day after (Friday) where nothing went right was a big deal for me personally,” Lewis said. “To post a number to give myself a chance at the medal at the end, I think coming into the week, that's all you can ask for.

“ … Things (Friday) started kind of going sideways and I couldn't stop it. I don't know what I would have done differently to try to slow things down. It was just kind of the way things went yesterday was kind of the story of the finish. To think that I could come back and still have a putt there to maybe get in the playoff is a pretty big deal.”

Fellow Americans Gerina Piller was in the medal hunt but a final-round 74 knocked her down to 11th place. The other member of Team USA, Lexi Thompson, shot her best round of the week, a 66, and finished at 3 under and in a tie for 19th.

Piller started the day two shots back but bogeyed her first two holes. She rebounded with birdies on the third and fifth but bogeys on the ninth, 13th and 14th finished her medal run. In a post-round ceremony she broke down. She had made a late run to get into the Olympics and was still in the hunt for a medal on the inward nine on Saturday.

“I didn't even think I had a chance to be here, so to come and to be in contention is all I can really ask for. Just going to learn from it and move on,” she said. “I kind of got off to a rough start but brought it back. That was huge for me. You know, just kind of putts didn't fall like they did yesterday. There's kind of nothing you can do about that.

“ … It's tough, just because there's just so much on the line and with golf being back in the Olympics for the first time, there's a lot of history. I think you want to stay in the moment, but then you want to allow yourself to see those positive thoughts and see yourself hitting the great shots and just the feelings and everything. I felt like maybe I held on a little too tight.”

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