ROGERS -- From then-amateur Stacy Lewis' unofficial victory in the inaugural 2007 LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship, to Nasa Hataoka's victory Sunday, Arkansas' only LPGA event continues to be a favorite among tour players.
And it will be here for at least two more years as title sponsor Walmart has extended the contract through 2020.
"This is [Walmart's] home community and the reason they sponsor this event is for the quality of life in Northwest Arkansas," said Jay Allen, the tournament's event chairman. "Golf tournaments have different missions, but the one here is to really add to the surrounding community."
The event has grown from a basic golf tournament into a key component of the LPGA Tour. Each year the crowds increase and the off-course events also increase, Allen said.
"It has been a successful week," Allen said. "We had great attendance here Friday and Saturday. It's not one thing or one metric [that determines success]. It's a variety of things, and the community and our sponsors are pleased."
Next year's tournament is set to take place a week later than it did this year, from June 24-30, and Allen said a number of the new community events associated with the Championship will carry over and expand. These include the weekend 5K race, the culinary event "BITE NW Arkansas" and the kid-friendly educational tent "STEAM", which stands for science, technology, engineering art and math.
Still, the week's main focus is golf and the large group of top-notch tour pros who come from around the world to compete at Pinnacle Country Club for a chance at winning the Arkansas-shaped crystal trophy. That's something that will never change, said Harry Hardy, the tournament director.
"The golf course is always in phenomenal condition, and it's a pretty straightforward golf course," Hardy said. "It rewards good players, and you'll get good scores if you play well. Professionals like to play in front of big crowds, and they always get those here."
Much of the tournament's success can be attributed to a consistency that has been forged by years of continued, dedicated volunteers and event staff, Hardy said.
"The event has been around for 12 years, which in some respects is a long time, but it's also a short window," Hardy said. "The Pinnacle family has done every event, and it's a family atmosphere in Northwest Arkansas."
Before the 2018 edition of the tournament concluded, planners were already making decisions on what will take place in next year's event. The Northwest Arkansas Championship is a constantly expanding tournament, which is a principle Allen said he learned from working with Walmart, its lead sponsor.
"It might sound cliché, but we can't stop getting better if we want to continue being successful," Allen said. "That's what we expect, and that's what we're going to do."
Ernst solid
Austin Ernst got hot at the right time Sunday and soared up the leaderboard to finish at 15-under par and in second place. Ernst shot a 6-under for the final round and had four birdies on the back nine.
Ernst said the rain likely helped account for the low scores turned in by a host of golfers with softer, more forgiving greens.
"They've been soft all week just because it's so hot here, they have to keep them soft. If anything, I would say it softened them up a little bit more," Ernst said. "I got a little bit of spin on a couple shots I wasn't expecting to get as much spin on, but overall the course was great still. I know we got a ton of rain overnight."
Six players tied for third at 13-under including second-round co-leader Minjee Lee, who bogeyed two of her first three holes, but battled back to shoot even par on Sunday. Sandra Gal also shot 13-under after missing a short birdie putt on No. 18.
Mariah Stackhouse, another young face on the tour, was one of six players to finish at 12 under. That marked her second top 10 finish this year, the other coming at the ShopRite Classic where she tied for seventh.
"I'm definitely getting more and more comfortable being under par and not just the last couple rounds, getting started, which I thought was a huge help," Stackhouse said. "I think it's the reason I was able to get myself into good situations the last couple days, day three, day four lately because I started off well enough that I had something to go with. I think that's huge and just building on that momentum and keep scoring. I'm doing a great job of eliminating a lot of bogeys, so I think that's showing up on the scorecard, too. The number of bogeys I'm having in a tournament is decreasing pretty much weekly, which is a good thing. I'm happy."
Lewis leads charge
Stacy Lewis will carry a lot of positives into her final couple of events of the season before she leaves for the birth of her first child in November.
The 2014 Northwest Arkansas Championship winner finished the tournament at 9-under and closed strong Sunday with three consecutive birdies to shoot a 4-under 66 for the day.
Gaby Lopez, the first-round leader at 63, shot a 71 on Sunday to finish tied for 55th at 4-under for the tournament.
The two other Razorbacks in the field, Maria Fassi and Dylan Kim, failed to make the cut.
Sports on 06/25/2018