Stephanie Meadow, Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh all shot under-par rounds on day one of the LPGA’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship but sit either side of the projected cutline at Pinnacle Country Club.
Meadow, making just her eighth LPGA Tour start of 2026, is best positioned at two-under-par and sharing 58th after a round in which she made four birdies and two bogeys, while Maguire and Walsh are locked together at -1 and tied for 81st.
Walsh started strongly and got to two-under through six but a run of four bogeys in a five-holes stretch either side of the turn looked to have spoiled her day. A birdie on the par-3 15th seemed to settle her down, and she closed out in the best way possible by making eagle on the par-5 18th to leapfrog her way into red figures.
Maguire, making her first appearance since helping Europe to another Solheim Cup success, made three birdies and two bogeys throughout the course of her round, and both her and Walsh will need to post a low number on Saturday morning if they’re to enjoy the comfort of knowing they’re safely through to the final round of the 54-hole event before the afternoon wave really get going.
Meadow will be among those starters, and primarily hoping to make just her third cut of the campaign, though the heavily-bunched leaderboard means that she is only six shots off the lead and four off third.
Yuna Nishimura fired a career-low, eight-under 63 in the afternoon to take a one-stroke lead.
The 26-year-old from Japan put together a flawless, bogey-free performance at Pinnacle Country Club, recording six birdies and, like Walsh, capping off her round with an eagle on the par-5 18th hole.
Nishimura was pinpoint from tee to green, hitting all 13 fairways and hitting all 18 greens in regulation.
“I really went for the last putt,” Nishimura said through a translator about her closing eagle. “I wanted to make it so I kind of went aggressively and it went in, so I’m hoping it’s going to continue tomorrow.”
People’s Republic of China’s Yu Liu sits one shot back in second place after opening with a seven-under 64. A large group tied for third at six-under 65 included Charley Hull, Celine Boutier, and Amy Yang.
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