ROGERS — Umbrella provides little relief
There was no escaping the heat, especially for the afternoon groups, at the LPGA NW Arkansas Championship on Friday.
Temperatures reached as high as 102 degrees at Pinnacle Country Club, and there seemed to be little escape from it even on the tree-lined course.
First-round leader Veronica Felibert, a Venezuelan, had a morning tee time, so she managed to avoid some of the wilting heat on her way to a 6-under-par 65.
“Well, I’m actually from Caracas, it’s like up in the mountains, so it’s not that hot,” said Felibert, who played at Southern California. “I’m based in Florida now so I’m very used to heat and I like it better than cold, I’ve got to say.”
Former Arkansas star Stacy Lewis said the heat was not only draining but it made for some tough putting. The greens were watered to help them handle the heat but the water made the greens soft and, after being played on by many players, bumpy.
“Michelle [Wie] and I were talking on 18, we just wanted to get done because it just felt like it was beating down on top of you,” Lewis said. “It’s really hot out there and it’s tough to get your energy level up to hit those shots and to keep going.”
Shanshan Feng of China wore long sleeves under her shirt to protect her skin from the sun. Even so, she wilted late with two bogeys.
“I was always trying to hold my umbrella and I was trying to take some Vitamin C and some other things my caddie was putting in my drink,” Feng said. “I was just drinking it. I don’t know what it was, but maybe it worked.”
Pursuing victory
Amy Yang is still in pursuit of her first LPGA Tour victory nine months after losing to Yani Tseng in a one-hole playoff to finish second at last year’s NW Arkansas Championship.
Yang is 22, but this is her fifth year competing full time on the tour. She finished 10th on the money list last year with earnings of $912,160 and is 22nd this year at $250,395.
A 7-underpar 64 in the second round last year moved Yang into contention at Pinnacle Country Club.
She shot a 68 in the third round to force a playoff with Tseng, the top-ranked player in the women’s world golf rankings.
Yang had finished second once previously in an LPGA tournament, but last year’s performance at Pinnacle was the closest she has come to winning on the tour.
“I missed a 4- or 5-foot putt to go to the next hole,” Yang said of the playoff last year at Pinnacle. “I had some good chances before and I really wanted it that time, but it was a great experience.”
Yang is behind last year’s pace after shooting a 1-over 72 in the first round Friday,but she did conclude her round by tapping in a 3-foot putt for her only birdie.
Yang said she grew up in Ilsan, South Korea, admiring fellow South Korean Se Ri Pak, who is now an LPGA Tour and World Golf Hall of Famer.
“I dreamed about playing on this tour, and she’s one of my biggest heroes,” said Yang, who lives in Orlando, Fla. “Now we have the same coach, so I see her pretty often and she helps me out a lot. It’s really a dream come true to play with her on the tour.”
Pak, who is sixth on the career money list, shot a 2-over 73 at Pinnacle on Friday.
Par or better
Stacy Prammanasudh of Conway has been a consistent performer in four previous appearances at the Rogers tournament, finishing with an under-par score each time at Pinnacle Country Club.
Prammanasudh didn’t break par Friday, but her even-par 71 left her tied for 34th, six strokes behind first-round leader Veronica Felibert.
“All and all I’m very pleased with an even par,and we’ll see what happens tomorrow,” said Prammanasudh, who is playing in her seventh event of 2012 after giving birth to a son, Ryp, five months ago.
Prammanasudh, in her ninth year on the LPGA Tour, is trying to regain her best form. She ranks 139th on the money list with one made cut and $4,448 in earnings.
Prammanasudh, 32, played college golf at Tulsa and moved to Conway with her husband four years ago. She finished 2011 with $143,916 in earnings to rank 59th on the money list. For her career, she has won more than $3.3 million with two victories.
By the numbers
8 Birdies made by Shanshan Feng in the first round 65 Score shot by LPGA rookie Veronica Felibert 70 Previous career-best round shot by Felibert 73 Score shot by two-time defending champion Yani Tseng 102 Temperature recorded during the afternoon round
Overheard
“Did it rain? Why am I so wet?”
- Shanshan Feng after playing in the afternoon heat that surpassed 100 degrees
Sports, Pages 27 on 06/30/2012