Circumstances have aligned in Stacy Lewis' favor more often than not this season.

The reigning NCAA women's golf champion and second-ranked collegian has parlayed her good fortune into six tournament wins during her senior season at Arkansas. She invariably puts herself in position to take advantage of factors beyond her influence falling into place.

" My goal is to put myself in contention to win, " Lewis said. " As long as I do that, I'm pretty happy. Winning is just kind of an added bonus. To win it takes a lot of things to happen that are out of your control.

" I've made some key putts at the end of rounds to seal it, but it takes other people not playing as well, good bounces, good weather and things like that. "

Lewis' luck is the residue of preparation. Tournaments are won on the weekend, but Lewis does some of her most important work during the week. She wrings the most knowledge she can from practice rounds, plotting the most efficient route to low scores.

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Those practice sessions dictate which par 5 s she'll go for in two and what side of a fairway will give her the best angle to attack certain pin placements. The strategic approach is one Lewis adopted in earnest before her sophomore year.

She won three tournaments as a redshirt freshman, including the SEC Championship, relying more on skill than preparation. Despite her success, Lewis decided that a change in tack was needed. She no longer golfs her ball without a plan.

" When I played juniors, I just kind of would hit it and go find it and keep going, " Lewis said. " Even some of my freshman year I was that way. I've just learned that it's better to think your way around the course. "

Her plan of action was manifest last month at the SEC Championships in Loudon, Tenn. Lewis gleaned from her practice rounds that the yawning bunkers encumbering the Tennessee National Golf Course were to be avoided at all costs.

" You could see there were a ton of bunkers, and they looked deep, " Lewis said. " We knew staying out of the bunkers was going to be key. They were really deep and very penalizing when you got in there. I told [coach ] Shauna [Estes-Taylor ] after the practice round if we didn't hit any bunkers, we'll win this golf tournament. "

The Lady'Backs didn't win, finishing second to Florida, but Lewis did, going wire-to-wire to claim her second medalist honor at the conference tournament. She did so without bunkering her ball for the entirety of the 54-hole event. Her high ball flight enabled her to approach pin placements cut closely behind the cavernous bunkers.

As she prepares to defend her NCAA title, Lewis is resolved to shore up one of the few weaknesses in her game. The par-5 14 th at the Tennessee National Golf Club was a bane for Lewis. She made bogeys the final two days after failing to get a pair of 30-yard chip shots close enough to ensure par.

" It just had my number the last two days, " Lewis conceded. " I went for it the last two days and had that 20- to 30-yard little pitch shot. I never hit it close to the hole and three-putted both days.

" It went from a birdie hole to a bogey and basically cost me four shots right there. I could've hit it closer with a 5 or 6 iron than I could my wedge that week. "

Estes-Taylor instructed Lewis to emphasize wedge play during her preparation for the NCAA West Regional this weekend in Sacramento, Calif. Wedges were also the focus several weeks ago when Lewis received a lesson from longtime instructor Cole Smith. He's been Lewis'swing guru since she was 14.

The seven birdies she made during a recent practice round at a local par-3 course, the Greens at Lakeside Village, is evidence that she's remedied her wedge woes.

Lewis will shift her attention to the long game this week, as the Lincoln Hills Golf Club in Sacramento demands accuracy off the tee. Keeping her ball in the short grass shouldn't be a problem. Smith said driving accuracy is one of the strongest aspects of his pupil's game.

She finished fifth at last year's LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship primarily on the strength of her ability to find fairways. She hit 41 over the course of the four-day event. Rather than blasting balls on the range, Lewis prefers to practice driving on the course.

Because some of the holes at Lincoln Hills are similar off the tee to the Blessings Golf Course, the Lady'Backs home track in Johnson, much of Lewis' preparation will be spent hitting tee balls at the Blessings.

" I don't personally like to sit on the range and hit a lot of drivers, " Lewis said. " I'd rather go out on the course and work on it that way. If [Lincoln Hills ] is demanding off the tee, I know that suits my game pretty well. "