People’s Republic of China native Muni He has had a fresh face on her bag over the last several weeks on the LPGA Tour, a change that might finally be starting to pay dividends at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

When Muni found herself without a caddie at The Standard Portland Classic in August, the 26-year-old chose to phone a friend, someone she knew would be a great addition to her team at this point in the year as she works to move inside the top 100 of the Race to the CME Globe and secure full status for the 2026 LPGA Tour season.

And the person she rang wound up being 2018 Haskins Award presented by Stifel winner and PGA Tour member Norman Xiong.

“We grew up playing junior golf together, and (Norman is) an amazing golfer himself and still playing on the PGA Tour,” Muni said of Norman. “He's a very unique guy, I would say. He decided that he wanted to see competition golf from a different perspective. When I was in need of a caddie in Portland, he offered to come out and help me out. I think he really enjoys it.”

But Norman has been much more than just a looper for Muni in her last few starts on the LPGA Tour. Because the two were already friends well before their player-caddie relationship began, Muni has been comfortable having Norman as a de facto advisor since he began carrying her bag, tapping into any feedback he’s been willing to provide, perspective that has proven valuable to the LPGA Tour veteran during what’s become a critical crunch time as the 2025 season begins to wind down.

“The past few weeks, he's been doing more work than just being a caddie with me,” Muni explained. “He's been not really coaching, but kind of telling me how he feels about my equipment and certain areas in my game where I can improve, which has been really helpful. Actually, last week, we completely changed my whole club setup to something that was extremely unfamiliar.

“We were both in a bit of a confused state since I missed the cut last week. To see some good results today makes me feel like we're heading in the right direction.”

That progress was incredibly evident throughout the entirety of Muni’s opening round at Pinnacle Country Club, as she fired a nearly perfect 6-under 65 to kick off her seventh appearance in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Muni shot out of the gate on Friday morning, rattling off three straight birdies on holes one, two and three to quickly climb to 3-under.

She dropped her only shot of the day on the par-4 4th hole but erased that bogey with a birdie on five to get back to 3-under for the round. Muni then made another birdie on the par-5 7th and parred the next two holes to turn in 32 at 4-under.

She quieted down substantially on the closing nine in Rogers, Ark., making seven pars and two birdies on the par-5 14th and par-3 17th holes to finish with a 65, what is her lowest round on the LPGA Tour since day one of the 2023 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. It’s also put her near the top of the leaderboard early as she pursues a third career top-10 result in this event.

“I think it was a really hot start,” said Muni, who hit all 13 fairways and all 18 greens in regulation during round one. “I really like it here. I've liked this course. I've had, I think, my best finish on Tour here, so I feel really comfortable here. And it's the last of a four-week stretch for me, so I'm just trying to cruise.

“It's been a really long four weeks, and I feel really tired, so I'm hoping to have a strong finish here and go home with some good results.”

Muni entered the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at 129th in the Race to the CME Globe, 29 spots outside of the top-100 cutoff to retain full status for the 2026 season. While she has certainly been in this position before and has plenty of experience fighting her way up the rankings when her back has been against the wall, it’s still a quite stressful scenario for any athlete to find themselves in with so few full-field events remaining on the schedule, particularly as Muni hasn’t been super consistent in 2025, making just six cuts in her 12 starts ahead of this week’s tournament.

So after another missed cut at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, and in an effort to try and generate some late momentum, Muni, in conjunction with Norman’s advice, elected to make a pretty big equipment adjustment throughout her bag ahead of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, something that could have a been a risky move considering how few opportunities are left to earn Race to the CME Globe points.

“I’ve been struggling with my approach iron shots for a while, and I have always had the idea that I liked very, very light and flexible shafts,” Muni said. “We went 20, 25 grams heavier on all of my shafts, which is a lot in golf terms, so a big change. Went from graphite to steel, also a really big change, and something you typically don't want to do during the season. So really good to see it paying off, and I feel like it's changed for the better.”

It remains to be seen whether the consequences of that decision will continue to be positive ones for Muni, but she’ll certainly be looking ahead to the next 36 holes in Rogers, Ark., with a bolstered self-confidence after her round-one performance at Pinnacle Country Club, eager to keep this good form rolling over the weekend at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

Muni He Fires Lowest Round Since 2023 in Arkansas with PGA Tour’s Norman Xiong on Bag

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