Stacy Lewis, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Gerina Piller
Group 10 - 8:14 a.m. – 10th Tee
This week, Stacy Lewis returns to the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, the site of her last victory on Tour in 2014. The University of Arkansas graduate has deep ties to the community, which has adopted the 2014 champion as one of their own and throw their support behind her each time she returns to Pinnacle Country Club. Lewis has contended in Arkansas on more than one occasion with four top-10 finishes in addition to her victory.
Lewis will tee it up with Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Gerina Piller during the opening rounds of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Ewart Shadoff is coming off her best finish of 2017 with a fourth place showing in Canada at the Manulife LPGA Classic, a signal to European Solheim Cup Captain Annika Sorenstam that she is worthy of a captain’s pick. She is making her fifth appearance in Arkansas where her best finish is a tie for 32nd last season. Piller rounds out this group and is returning to Arkansas, where she finished tied for 20th in 2016, looking for her fourth top-10 finish of the season. Coming off a T-60 last week in Michigan, this week gives Piller an opportunity to get her game major-ready with three major championships in the next six weeks.
Sei Young Kim, Alena Sharp, Moriya Jutanugarn
Group 16 – 8:47 a.m. – 10th Tee
Coming off a tie for 22nd at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, this week Sei Young Kim tees it up in Arkansas for the third time. She’s had mixed success in her prior two starts with a tie for 16th in 2015 and a missed cut last season. Kim will play alongside Alena Sharp and Moriya Jutanugarn during the opening rounds in Arkansas. Sharp posted her second career top-10 in this event last season with a tie for eighth. Jutanugarn will be one to watch this week as she’s coming off top-7 finishes in her last three starts. She’ll look to continue that momentum at Pinnacle Country Club, where she finished tied for fourth last season, and pick up her first career win on the LPGA Tour.
Angela Stanford, Hyo Joo Kim, Na Yeon Choi
Group 36 – 1:25 p.m. – 10th Tee
Solheim Cup veteran Angela Stanford has a lot to play for this summer as she looks to earn her way onto Team U.S.A. for the seventh time. Currently ranked ninth in the standings, Stanford could make a leap this week with another solid finish in Arkansas where she has twice finished runner-up. Stanford will play alongside Hyo Joo Kim and Na Yeon Choi on Friday and Saturday. Kim’s game is trending upward in recent weeks with a tie for 11th in Canada followed by a tie for seventh last week in Michigan. She’s making just her second appearance in Arkansas where she finished T-44 last season. Choi is another player who has consistently played well at Pinnacle Country Club where she won in 2015 and has four more top-10s. A victory this week would turn around a difficult stretch for Choi who is coming off a tie for 43rd last week in Michigan.
Lydia Ko, Ai Miyazato, Inbee Park
Group 37 – 1:36 p.m. – 1st Tee
Defending champion Lydia Ko is back in Arkansas and ready for a win. The world No. 2 is coming off three consecutive top-10s and in the hunt for her first victory of 2017. Pinnacle Country Club has been good to Ko – she’s never finished outside the top-6. On Friday and Saturday she will play alongside Ai Miyazato and Inbee Park. Miyazato is in the field for the first time since she announced her retirement from professional golf at the end of the 2017 season. Miyazato won in Arkansas in 2012 for her ninth and last victory on Tour. Park also won this event, taking home the trophy in 2013. She has three more top-10s in Arkansas in addition to her victory and this week looks to pick up her second win of the season.
Michelle Wie, Danielle Kang, So Yeon Ryu
Group 39 – 1:47 p.m. – 1st Tee
Michelle Wie will play alongside close friend Danielle Kang and So Yeon Ryu during the opening rounds of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Wie is coming off her best finish of the year, a tie for second at the Meijer LPGA Classic, which was her fifth top-6 finish of the season. Wie has had mixed success in Arkansas but has posted two top-10s including a runner-up finish in 2010. Kang has two top-10s of her own so far in 2017 and needs to continue adding to that total in order to earn her way onto the U.S. Solheim Cup Team in August. Ryu rounds out this group as the world’s No. 3 ranked player. After posting 11 consecutive top-10 finishes, dating back to 2016, Ryu missed the cut at the ShopRite LPGA Classic earlier this month and this week makes her first start since. Ryu has twice finished in the top-5 in Arkansas including a runner-up finish in 2013.
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