PHOENIX (AP) ― The determined Texan who wore a back brace 18 hours a day for six years as a teen has fought her way to the top of women’s golf.

Stacy Lewis jumped from third to first in the world rankings, ending Yani Tseng’s 109-week run at No. 1 with a comeback victory Sunday in the LPGA Founders Cup.

Diagnosed with scoliosis when she was 11, Lewis had to have major back surgery when the brace failed to correct the curvature in her spine.

“I was going into surgery to put a rod and five screws in my back,” Lewis said. “That was just 10 years ago. That’s not normal, that’s not supposed to happen. I mean, I’m not, I’m really not supposed to be here. People with metal in their back, how do you play golf? I don’t know. I don’t know how. I don’t know why I’m here. I know that there’s a reason and I know that everything happens for a reason.”

Coming off a victory two weeks ago in Singapore, the 28-year-old Lewis won her seventh LPGA Tour title. She won the 2011 Kraft Nabisco and has six victories in her last 23 events.

“I’m having a blast on the golf course, and to be No. 1 in the world, it’s what everybody out here on tour is working for and to be that person is, I mean, I really don’t even know what to say,” said Lewis, the tour player of the year in 2012 after winning four times.

She’s the second American to top the rankings, which began in 2006. Cristie Kerr was No. 1 for five weeks over three stints in 2010.

“It’s crazy,” Lewis said. “That was my goal kind of since the middle of last year and I really didn’t think it would be possible this quick. ... I’m going to have fun, I know that. I watched Yani struggle with it for too long and I’m going to go have fun.”

Streelman finally a PGA Tour winner

PALM HARBOR, Florida (AP) ― The uphill climb to the 18th green at Innisbrook was nothing compared with the journey that brought Kevin Streelman his first PGA Tour victory.

He burned up three cars driving across the country playing the mini-tours. He used to clean clubs during the week and caddie on the weekends.

His biggest claim on tour was winning $1 million from a bonus competition called the Kodak Challenge. His last win was five years ago in the club championship at Whisper Rock.

Streelman won the Tampa Bay Championship on Sunday in his 153rd start on the PGA Tour.

The way he played this weekend on the tough Copperhead course ― particularly the back nine ― made it look as if he had done this many times before.

“Always had a dream of getting here,” Streelman said. “And so to get this is the culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of time spent late into the evening, and getting up early in the morning. And it’s really a dream come true.”