2014 Second Round Recap
It has been no major championship hangover for Michelle Wie this week in Arkansas. The Rolex Rankings No. 7 player now holds a two-shot lead at 10-under at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. The second round was suspended at 4:30 p.m. local time and called for the day at 5:30 p.m. due to dangerous weather in the area. Seventy-two players still need to finish the second round and round two will continue at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday with the final round starting at approximately 11:00 a.m.
Wie shot back-to-back 66’s in the first two rounds and has had only one bogey in her first 36 holes of the tournament. The newest major champion leads last year’s runner-up So Yeon Ryu who posted rounds of 67-67 and had five birdies and one bogey in Friday’s second round.
Wie will try to record back-to-back wins for the first time in her career tomorrow and has already recorded two victories in a single season for the first time with her win at Pinehurst No. 2. Wie showed no signs of fatigue on Saturday and recorded four of her six birdies in her final seven holes.
The 24-year-old said she chatted with friend and mentor Meg Mallon on Saturday night and said she told her that following U.S. Women’s Open with a win is not impossible. Mallon achieved the feat in 2004 when she followed up her second U.S. Women’s Open title with a win at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.
“I’m definitely tired, definitely trying to get through the week,” said Wie. “But at the same time I want to win back to back. I kind of talked to Meg on the phone yesterday and she’s like, yeah, I played after the U.S. Open I won. But it’s a long way till then, but I definitely want to play the best I can…I’m not the type of person, I don’t like to plan too far in the future. There’s definitely stuff I need to do tomorrow before that happens. If I can get it done, hopefully it will happen.”
University of Arkansas alum and local favorite Stacy Lewis turned in a 66, bouncing back from an opening round 70 on Friday. She sits four shots behind Wie in a tie for sixth. The world No. 1 player said she took out some frustration on the range at Pinnacle Country Club on Friday and it seemed to payoff. She said she has proactively throughout her career trained herself to forget about a bad round and move on.
“That’s what I do best,” said Lewis. “I don’t like playing two bad rounds in a row. If I play a bad round it’s okay, but you just can’t let it happen again. So that’s why last night I spent some time out there. It was a long night, but I felt a lot more confident coming into today.”
Ten players are currently within four shots of Wie including Suzann Pettersen (-7), Chella Choi (-7) and Gerina Piller (-6). Wie said she’ll be taking an aggressive approach on Sunday especially with the soft conditions due to rainfall in Rogers throughout the week.
“I can’t predict the score, but I’m just going to go out there and try to do the same thing I did today, just attack the holes that I can attack and try to make some putts and try to make a lot of birdies,” said Wie.