Out of the Rough: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship (2026)

The LPGA Tour resumes for the first time since the Solheim Cup two weeks back with this week’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

Last year’s edition was cut short, when mother nature pushed the remainder of round-two into Sunday due to inclement weather. The course received an additional 3.25-inches of rain overnight and the remainder of the event was canceled.

It is worth noting that the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship is a three-round, 54-hole event. Just about a round-and-a-half was able to be played a season ago.

This season marks the 20th installment of the LPGA Tour staple. Each of its 20 installments have been held at the Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas.

The Field

As the dust of the Solheim Cup continues to settle and the LPGA getting ready to enter its Asian swing in three weeks time - and a stop in Hawaii next week - many of the World’s best will be idle this week.

Miyu Yamashita (fifth) comes in as the highest ranked golfer within the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to be playing this week.

She’ll be joined by Lottie Woad (seventh,) Charley Hull (eighth,) Gaby Lopez (16th,) Lauren Coughlin (17th,) Mao Sigo (18th,) Ina Yoon (19th,) Nasa Hataoka (20th,) Hye Jin Choi (22nd,) Aki Iwai (23rd,) Auston Kim (24th) and Jin Hee Im (25th) as those ranked within the top-25 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings to be playing this week.

Thidapa Suwannapura won the latest full installment of this event in 2024, topping Lucy Li in a playoff. Suwannapura won’t be back this season to defend her title but Li will tee it up in hopes to avenge the playoff loss.

Hataoka (2018 and 2021) is the only former champion of this event to be teeing it up this week.

The Course

Pinnacle Country Club, pressed against the Ozark Mountains, is highly considered one of the best golf courses in all of Northwest Arkansas.

It’ll play as a par-71 at 6,438 yards this week.

Off-the-tee golfers, will be welcomed by the beautiful rolling terrain of the Ozark Mountains,

The fairways are generous in width but are framed by mature hardwoods, penal rough and strategically placed bunkering.

Additionally, water serves as the course’s main line of defense, coming into play on all but two holes here at Pinnacle Country Club.

The fairways are not all that challenging to hit, but finding the correct landing area to set up the second-shot is not.

With that being said, Pinnacle Country Club is a second-shot course. Golfers will often opt for driver off-the-tee, but with an emphasis on landing areas, and plenty of obstacles listed above, an accurate approach off-the-tee could be favored.

From there, golfers will need to keep the accuracy going into their approach shots. Landing areas on these large Bentgrass greens are precise.

These greens are severely contoured and some multi-tiered. Missing the correct tier or side of these greens will result in run-offs and in turn, challenging chips and three-putts.

The list of challenges continues for this golf course as the green complexes may be the most challenging area of defense.

The greens are surrounded by both tight collars and thick rough, requiring a complete around-the-green game to recover.

Sharp and deep greenside bunkers, that are heavily featured on this golf course, often require a force-carry to find the correct landing area on these greens.

Additionally, unlike most par-71 courses that feature three-par fives, Pinnacle Country Club has four par-fives but has an additional par-three in lieu of a traditional tenth par-four.

In all, a complete, patient game will be needed to compete here this week.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Friday is calling for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation. Saturday is calling for the highest chance at 25-percent and Sunday is calling for a 15-percent chance. Temperatures are set for a high of 79-degrees for both Friday and Saturday before peaking at 81-degrees on Sunday. Winds are set to peak at ten miles-per-hour, but due to the nearby Ozark Mountains generating natural wind tunnels and the elevation changes featured on the course, winds could be higher than what forecasts suggest.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Ball Striking

• Driving Accuracy Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Scrambling

• Three-Putt Avoidance

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Three-Round scoring average

• Birdie or Better Percentage

• Par-5 Scoring Average

• Par-3 Scoring Average

• Sand Saves Percentage

Betting Card

Check back for my full betting card!