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Stacy Lewis’ second season on the LPGA Tour can’t be characterized as a sophomore slump. Far from it.

Lewis, the former University of Arkansas standout, nearly doubled her money earned from 2009 to 2010. She finished in the top 10 of four tournaments and was second at the Tres Marias Championship, her best finish on tour last year.

It was a huge jump for Lewis, who admits she didn’t consider a career in professional golf until after her junior year of college. She won the 2007 NCAA individual championship, and it wasn’t until then that Lewis realized she could put a career using her finance and accounting degree on hold.

“I didn’t go to college saying I wanted to play professional golf,” said Lewis, a Houston-area native. “Everybody was asking me after my junior year if I was going to turn pro. I couldn’t figure out why I would do that.”

Now she knows.

Lewis, who missed the cut in only six of 24 events played in 2010, spent much of January working in Florida to fine-tune her game. Training included a tweak of her swing and work on more consistent putting.

Can she top 2010 and become — as her official website suggests — “the Next Great American Golfer”? Lewis is trying. And in February of this year, she shot rounds of 67-65-67-69 on her way to tying for second in the $500,000 Australian Ladies Masters.

ArkansasSports360.com: You had a huge 2010, your second year on tour. What has to happen for you to make another big leap in 2011?
Stacy Lewis: I started playing really well at the end of the year. I wanted the year to continue and not have a break, but I think it’s just getting comfortable in that position. I found myself getting more comfortable at the end of the year, being comfortable playing with the leaders and the best players in the world. It does a lot for your confidence. I think I’m close to winning. I finished the year with three or four top 10s at the end.

Is winning every tournament a realistic goal?
Do you look at it in those terms, or can you be satisfied with top 10 finishes? It’s hard. Obviously, any time you don’t win, it’s tough. I’m very competitive, but if you finish second or third, you have to look at the whole thing and realize you played really well, and if one or two shots had gone differently, then you could have won. On the other side, if one or two shots go the other way, you’re not even close to a top 10. You have to keep it in perspective.

Was it as simple as having more confidence? What areas did you see your golf game improve?
My putting got better as the year went on, but I think a lot of it was just being comfortable around all the other players, knowing the other players better. I don’t know, I just felt more comfortable like I belonged playing with the best players in the world, not like I happened to be there. When I played in the U.S. Open a couple years ago, and I was leading going into the last round, I was playing with Paula [Creamer] and I felt like I didn’t even belong there. Now when I’m in that situation I do belong there. I do have a chance to win.

Was there a tournament where you began to feel like you did belong?
I don’t think I fully believed it until the Japan [Mizuno Classic, November 2010] this past year. I finished third but played down the stretch with Jiyai Shin and Yani [Tseng]. Jiyai wound up winning, but I left a lot out there in the final round. I looked back out there and knew if one or two shots went my way, I could have won that golf tournament against two of the top players in the world. I think that just really showed me that I can play. I knew I belonged.

What other adjustments did you have to make from the college to pro game?
I’m not sure people understand all the practice time we put in. When you’re in college, you had to balance school. Growing up, you have to balance school with whatever you did. So now, you have to be really self-motivated to go out there and practice. These last three weeks I’d leave the house at 7 or 8 in the morning and wouldn’t come home until after 5. It’s a job. You have to be willing to work.

Your success has paralleled that of the NW Arkansas Championship (Sept. 9-11 this year in Rogers). What has that tournament meant for you?
It’s been really cool to see the progress of it. The community support has been great. They’ve really embraced it, and it’s the perfect community for an LPGA event. It’s cool for me to come home. It really feels like home to me. I have a lot of friends there and people that recognize me. It’s a special event for me being a Razorback. … To think of where I was the first year I played and where I am now, it’s amazing. It’s part of the reason I give back. I feel lucky to be in the situation I’m in.

One of the areas in which you’ve chosen to give back is Golf Fore Africa, a charity that provides AIDS/HIV prevention education, medical care and other assistance in Africa. How did you get involved and what was the experience like in traveling to Africa?
Betsy King started the charity and when I met her earlier in the year, she told me about a trip she was organizing. I’d never been on a mission trip, but always wanted to go on one. It was amazing. I’m so glad I went. You see things a lot of people won’t see in their lifetime. It makes you really appreciative of what you get to do every day, the things you have and your family. They raise money to build hospitals in communities that need one. We got to see a completed project. We also raised money to build houses for families and visited with them. We got to help build a house. It’s rewarding to see where all that money is going and how it is benefiting people.

I hear you’ve done some work as a volunteer coach with the University of Arkansas program. What sorts of things do you do as a volunteer coach? I always wanted to help anyway I could. If there is a recruit in town and I happen to be there, I’ll meet recruits and things like that. I’ll go and play with the girls [on the team] some-times. They like to pick my brain a little bit, ask me questions. Arkansas is a fairly new program, so there’s not a great history of LPGA players. I just try to help them out however I can. I’d like to see more Razorbacks out on tour.