Lefty wins Houston Open; Stacy Lewis wins LPGA Kraft Nabisco

Associated Press

HUMBLE, TEXAS

Phil Mickelson won the Houston Open on Sunday to jump to No. 3 in the world heading into his Masters title defense.

Mickelson had weekend rounds of 63 and 65 at Redstone to finish at 20-under 268, three strokes ahead of Chris Kirk (67) and Scott Verplank (68).

While Mickelson moved to No. 3 with his 39th PGA Tour victory, Tiger Woods fell to No. 7. It’s the first time Mickelson has been ahead of Woods in the ranking since the week before Woods won the 1997 Masters for his first major championship.

Lefty is hoping he can repeat some history at Augusta this week. He’s the last player to win the week prior to a Masters victory, capturing the BellSouth Classic in 2006 before earning his second green jacket. The Houston Open became the run-up event to Augusta in 2007.

LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.

Stacy Lewis held off defending champion Yani Tseng to win the Kraft Nabisco Championship by three strokes, earning her first LPGA Tour title in the year’s first major.

Lewis shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 13-under 275, rallying from an early two-stroke deficit while going head-to-head with the world’s top-ranked player.