Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rested Lopez takes first-round lead in Rogers
ROGERS — Gaby Lopez has long played in the shadow of Stacy Lewis, first as collegians at Arkansas, and later as LPGA Tour professionals at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
The 24-year-old Lopez, in her third season on the LPGA Tour, has yet to win a tour event and has just a handful of top 10 finishes. Lewis, on the other hand, has more than a dozen wins, including two majors, and won this event in 2014.
On Friday, it was Lopez who stood in the spotlight, firing a career-low eight-under 63 to grab the first-round lead at the NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club.
“At feel at home here, I feel so, so comfortable here,” said Lopez, who also admitted she’d like to steal some of Lewis’ local thunder. “I feel that every single person out here is rooting for us. But we have so much in common; I just think that brings a unity.”
Lopez, whose best finish this season is a tie for 10th at the Volvik Championship, opened Friday’s round with back-to-back birdies on No. 1 and No. 2 and played a bogey-free round.
“That helped my confidence a lot, that momentum, just good feelings and good sensation,” she said of the fast start. “It’s just confidence, even if one shot didn’t go the way you want it doesn’t mean the next one will be the same.”
Lopez scorched the front nine with a six-under 30, then birdied the par-3 No. 11 to go to seven-under, sharing top billing on the crowded leaderboard with a host of others.
At the par-five 14th, she drained a long birdie putt and gave an emphatic fistpump as a new name moved atop the chart at eight-under and she held it the rest of the way, escaping trouble on No. 18 when her tee shot sailed far right and her ball came to rest at the base of a large oak tree. She chipped out to the fairway then knocked her third shot within 12 feet of the pin. She two-putted for par to end her career-best round.
There were 26 players who shot under par on Friday in near-perfect conditions with temperatures in the low 80s and virtually no wind. A mid-week rain also made the course softer, all factors that contributed to a crowded
leaderboard heading into the weekend.
“The course is in great shape,” she said. “Today was perfect. I guess maybe the pin positions will be harder the next two days, but at the same time I’ll just stick to the process, just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Coming into this week’s event, Lopez had failed to make the cut in her last two starts after the solid performance at Volvik. She did not play at the Meijer LPGA Classic last week, instead spending the week with her family in Mexico City.
“No one truly understands until you’re out here. Playing four weeks in a row can sound easy, but it’s not,” Lopez said. “Especially when you travel all the time. I love being at home. I’m a home girl; I like to spend time with my family and my coach back in Mexico. It was a new feeling this week, a new start.”
Lopez said she took a few days off to take her mind off of golf, then spent time with her coach Horacio Morales working on things like grip pressure and ball position. That time off has Lopez recharged and in position to put her name in the winner’s circle.
She’ll have to hold off a crowded field that has seven players just one shot back including Moriya Jutanugarn, the No. 8 player in the Rolex Rankings. Jutanugarn has enjoyed success at this event in recent years, finishing second last year to So Yeon Ryu.
“I hit the ball very solid and made putts today,” Jutanugarn said. “I like everything here. The course is nice. I don’t know, I guess it just fits my eyes better.”
Six golfers finished Friday’s round at 6-under, and another 15 came in a 5-under including Lewis and another former winner of this event, Lydia Ko.
Weather could be a factor today as the forecast is calling for thunderstorms throughout the day with more rain also forecast for Sunday morning.
Lizette Salas, who also finished at 7-under Friday, said getting off to a fast start against the chance of rain was crucial.
“With the forecast coming
in, I knew I had to take advantage of the weather and to go as deep as I can,” she said. “I’ve been striking the ball well, and my putting’s been coming along, so I felt good coming in, and it definitely showed.”