ROGERS -- Lydia Ko signed her scorecard, signed a few autographs, then headed to the practice putting green as the Friday evening sun was setting on Pinnacle Country Club.
Ko, the defending Northwest Arkansas Championship winner, said she didn't leave herself many chances to go low after shooting a 1-under 70 in the first round.
Tough to repeat
Defending champions have struggled to defend their title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship:
Year won^Golfer^Next year’s first round
2016^Lydia Ko^70
2015^Na Yeon Choi^75
2014^Stacy Lewis^68
2013^Inbee Park^69
2012^Ai Miyazato^73
2011^Yani Tseng^73
2010^Yani Tseng^66
2009^Jiyai Shin^71
2008^Seon Hwa Lee^74
"This is probably the toughest I've played this golf course, because it was pretty breezy, at least for the first nine holes," Ko said. "But hopefully I'll give myself more opportunities [today]."
Windy conditions raised scores higher for the players who teed off in the afternoon.
A weather delay forced golfers off the course mid-afternoon for about 45 minutes. When they returned to the course, they found the conditions had changed from warm and humid, to cool and windy. Very windy.
"I don't think the cooler temperatures affected the golf course, but the wind and how strong it was was the bigger factor," Ko said.
Ko, who scorched the field last year with a record-setting 17-under score, went to 1 under with a birdie at the par-3 third, but gave it back with a bogey at No. 5. She birdied the par-3 sixth, but again gave it back at No. 8 with a bogey.
It was that kind of round for Ko, 20, who ceded the No. 1 spot in the Rolex World Rankings on June 12 after a run of 85 weeks.
Ko finished an even-par front nine with five consecutive pars. She picked up a birdie at the par-5 14th, then gave the stroke back with a bogey at No. 16. Ko finished the round with a birdie at No. 17 to go to 1-under, then made things interesting at No. 18.
Ko crushed a drive on the par-5 18th, but her second shot from the fairway rolled through the green and up against the grandstand. She got a drop and chipped to within 18 feet, but ran her birdie put past the hole before saving par with a short comeback putt.
Last year Ko wore an Arkansas Razorbacks hat as she joked with fans on No. 17 on what the LPGA Tour calls "the loudest hole on the tour." Ko said Friday's round was more of the same as fans cheered the defending champion.
"Some fans were holding a sign with my head on it," she said. "So it was really cool and the fans here are great."
Ko was paired with two other former tournament champions: Inbee Park and Ai Miyazato.
Park, the former No. 1 player on the LPGA Tour and the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, shot a 2-under, and 2012 champion Ai Miyazato finished with a 1-over for the day.
Miyazato, who has announced she will be retiring from the LPGA Tour after this season, said she enjoyed playing with Park and Ko.
"It was absolutely fun today," she said. "I haven't played with Lydia since maybe a couple of years ago, so it was really nice to see her play out there. And Inbee is always fun to play with, too.
"This was really just tough conditions this afternoon. When we teed off it was raining and the wind was blowing, and the delay for 45 minutes or so. And the wind did not settle down to the end."
Ko, who enters today's second round seven shots off the pace set by leader Sung Hyun Park, had a simple answer for her strategy to get back in the hunt for the title.
"Make a lot of birdies," she said, with a laugh.
Ko will tee off at 8:36 a.m. on No. 10.
Sports on 06/24/2017