CELEBRATING 10 YEARS
The LPGA Tour returns to Northwest Arkansas where the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G will celebrate its 10th anniversary this week. The event began in 2007 and is one of three 54-hole tournaments on the 2016 LPGA schedule, joined by the ShopRite LPGA Classic Presented by Acer and the TOTO Japan Classic.
Na Yeon Choi will look to defend her 2015 title after a magical moment allowed her to take the lead in last year's final round with just two holes to play. Choi used her favorite club, an 8-iron, from 145 yards out in the 16th fairway and drained the shot for an eagle, vaulting her from one-behind then leader Stacy Lewis to a one-shot lead.
“I mean, when I held the finish, I thought it's going to be good, but I didn't expect like it go in," Choi said after last year's win. "I knew it was going to be good. That was a good shot and then I knew it's going to be good.”
Lewis, who was the 2014 champion of this event, had her title defense bid thwarted as Choi would go on to birdie the 17th hole and ultimately post a two-shot victory over Japan's Mika Miyazato. Lewis, who played collegiately nearby at the University of Arkansas, returns to play at Pinnacle Country Club as one of eight players who have participated in this tournament every year since its inception. Her record here includes three top-10s alongside her winning performance two years ago.
Additionally, Lewis was the unofficial winner of the inaugural event as an amateur in 2007 after being the first round leader when the second and third rounds of the tournament were rained out.
Other former champions joining Choi and Lewis in the 2016 field are former World No. 1 Ai Miyazato (2012) and two-time winner Yani Tseng, who won this tournament in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011.
ARKANSAS TIES
University of Arkansas alum and former Walmart NW Arkansas Championship winner Stacy Lewis will be joined by four fellow Razorbacks in the field this week. Spring graduate and Tour rookie Gaby Lopez, who will be playing in this tournament for the fourth time, will try to finish in the top-10 for the first time after a career best T11 finish in last month's Volvik LPGA Championship.
Arkansas freshman Maria Fassi received one of two sponsor invitations this week. Two of Fassi's teammates qualified for the field by finishing first and second in this week's Monday qualifier - rising junior Alana Uriell shot a round of 64 while recent graduate Regina Plasencia posted a 69 to earn a spot in the field.
THE ROAD TO RIO GOES THROUGH ROGERS
This week’s field at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G features 31 players from 21 different countries that would compete in the 2016 Olympic Games as qualifying currently stands.
Amy Yang's stellar play in 2016, which includes five top-10 finishes, has vaulted her to No. 8 in the Rolex Rankings as she currently holds South Korea's fourth Olympic roster spot. South Korea is the only nation in the world that has four players qualified to compete at the Olympics in women's golf.
Below is a breakdown of players in the field this week currently slated to represent their countries in Rio:
Australia - Minjee Lee, Su Oh
Canada - Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp
China - Xi Yu Lin
Colombia - Mariajo Uribe
France - Karine Icher
Germany - Sandra Gal, Caroline Masson
Israel - Laetitia Beck
Italy - Giulia Sergas, Giulia Molinaro
Japan - Haru Nomura
Malaysia - Kelly Tan
Mexico - Alejandra Llaneza, Gaby Lopez
Netherlands - Christel Boeljon
New Zealand - Lydia Ko
Paraguay - Julieta Grenada S
South Africa - Lee-Anne Pace, Paula Reto
Republic of Korea - Sei Young Kim, In Gee Chun, Amy Yang
Spain - Azahara Munoz, Carlota Ciganda
Sweden - Pernilla Lindberg
Taiwan - Candie Kung
Thailand - Ariya Jutanugarn, Pornanong Phatlum
United States - Stacy Lewis
YOUTH NUMBERS TO KNOW
Through the first 17 events of the 2016 season:
- 21.25 - Average age of winners in 2016
- 1 - Number of winners over the age of 23 (Anna Nordqvist, 28)
- 9 - The top nine players on the 2016 official money list are all under the age of 25
- 18 - Age of both major winners 2016 (Lydia Ko - ANA Inspiration; Brooke Henderson - KPMG Women's PGA Championship)
- 9 - Events won by players 21 years old and under
- 6 - Six of the top-10 players in the Rolex Rankings are 23 years old or younger
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