The LPGA Tour headed to the Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. This 54-hole event, which began in 2007, is played on a par 71 layout of 6438 yards. Austine Ernst entered as the defending champion of the tournament which has a purse of $2.3 million and 500 points to the Race to the CME Globe for the winner.
First Round
Scoring was excellent in the first round as Katherine Kirk, Eun-Hee Ji, and A Lim Kim took the first-round lead with rounds of 63. Sarah Burnham was just a shot back after a 64. None of the top four players on the leaderboard recorded a score above a par. Two shots off the pace were Lindsey Weaver, PajareeAnannarukarn, Klara Splokova, and Nasa Hataoka. Among the six players at five-under par were In Gee Chun and Ariya Jutanugarn, who bounced back after missing the cut last week. A logjam of 13 players posted rounds of 67, including Stacy Lewis, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Jennifer Kupcho, and amateur Brooke Matthews. Still within striking distance with rounds of 68 were 15 players, including Patty Tavatanakit, Danielle Kang, Lydia Ko, Jin Young Ko, and Moriya Jutanugarn. Notables outside the projected cut line of one-under were Matilda Castren, Anna Nordqvist, Ryann O’Toole, Yealimi Noh, and Mel Reid.
Second Round
Minjee Lee vaulted into a tie for the lead after a front nine 30 and round of 63. She was deadlocked with Nasa Hataoka who provided the highlight of the day with a hole-in-one on the Eun-Hee Ji sat just a shot off the pace after a round of 68. Jeunguen Lee6 moved into position after a 63 put her at ten-under. Also at ten-under was Ariya Jutanugarn who had not one, but two eagles on the day. Still just three shots off the pace was a trio led by Jennifer Kupcho. Yuka Saso moved into position after a six-birdie round of 65 put her at eight-under along with Moriya Jutanugarn, Danielle Kang, and Jin Young Ko. Matilda Castren dazzled with a 29 on the back nine and finished with a round of 64. Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom also posted a 64 and was six shots back at six-under.
Normally a round of 70 is a solid day, but when most players are tearing up the course, it drops you on the leaderboard. Such was the case with Lexi Thompson, who was eight shots back at for-under, along with Brooke Henderson, Patty Tavatanakit, and Lydia Ko. Notables to make the cut but were out of contention included Nanna Koerstz Madsen, So Yeon Ryu, Yealimi Noh, Sei Young Kim, Ally Ewing, and Sophia Popov. Missing the cut were Ryann O’Toole, Amy Yang, Mel Reid, and Mirim Lee, who struggled to a round of 83.
Final Round
The round of the day was shot by So Yeon Ryu, who recorded ten birdies and a score of 62. The finished in an eight-way tie for 8th along with the likes of Moriya Jutanugarn, Lexi Thompson, and Jeonguen Lee6. Stacy Lewis and Jin Young Ko were another notch up the leader board at 12-under. With rounds of 65, both Danielle Kang and Yuka Saso moved into the top five, finishing tied for 4th at 14-under par. Tied for second and just a shot back were the duo of Eun-Hee Ji and Minjee Lee. The steady play of Nasa Hataoka, who was four-under for the day after 12, finished with mainly pars the rest of the way to notch the win at 16-under par. For the 22-year-old from Japan, it was her 5th LPGA win.
Notables included Jennifer Kupcho (10-under), Mina Harigae (nine-under), Ariya Jutanugarn, Lydia Ko, and Brooke Henderson (eight-under), Celine Boutier, Austin Ernst (seven-under), Carlota Ciganda, Matilda Castren (six-under), Madelene Sagstrom (five-under), Yealimi Noh and Patty Tavatanakit (three-under).
Coming Up
The LPGA heads to the Seaview Bay Golf Course in Galloway, New Jersey for the LPGA ShopRite Classic. This event was held from 1986 through 2006 and returned to the schedule in 2010. The 72-hole event takes place on a par 71 layout of 6190 yards. The purse is $1,750,000 with 500 points towards the CME Race to the Globe for the winner. Mel Reid is the defending champion after posting a four-under par in the final round to win by two shots.
