Yuna Nishimura of Japan capped her opening-round, 8-under-par 63 with a birdie and an eagle on Friday at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to take a one-stroke lead in Rogers, Ark.
Nishimura, 26, scored a top-five finish at the Dow Championship in June, but she is still awaiting her first LPGA tournament victory. At Pinnacle Country Club on Friday, she got off to a hot start with five birdies across the front nine, then she closed her bogey-free round with a flourish.
“I really went for the last putt,” Nishimura said. “I wanted to make it, so I kind of went aggressively and it went in, so I’m hoping it’s going to continue tomorrow.”
Asked if any particular aspect of her game was clicking, she said, “My fairway shots and greens, everything kind of went well today. It all just went well and I’m happy about it.”
China’s Yu Liu trails Nishimura by one shot. Her bogey-free day included a hot streak over Nos. 3-7, wherein she went birdie, birdie, birdie, par, birdie.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve had a bogey-free round for so long, and definitely very, very happy about how the round went today,” Liu said. “Just really glad that I was able to rely on any experience and the work that I’ve done.”
If either Nishimura or Liu is tempted to get too comfortable, they need only look at the leaderboard to regain some sense of urgency. Nine golfers are tied for third place at 6 under.
Included in that group are Americans Lizette Salas and Sophia Schubert; South Koreans Jin Hee Im, Amy Yang and Juniper Jang; as well as Sweden’s Frida Kinhult, France’s Celine Boutier, England’s Charley Hull and Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen.
Hull spoke about coming in cold possibly playing to her advantage.
“After the Solheim Cup I had the flu, I had sickness and everything, and I nearly pulled out of this week because I felt like I wasn’t prepared enough,” Hull said. “And then I come over to America on Saturday. I’ve had like some sponsor stuff up until Monday, Tuesday actually, and got in here late Tuesday night.
“So, it wasn’t really the best prep, but actually I come in here with no expectations and felt like I hit it pretty well tee to green and putted decent.”
Another 14 players share 12th place at 5 under. Many of the world’s top-ranked players aren’t at the event, but No. 7 Lottie Woad of England and No. 14 Gabby Lopez of Mexico are a part of that group.