Golden example

The history of Thai sports would not be complete without mentioning the historic day on December 16, 1967 when His Majesty the late King Bhumibol won the South East Asian Peninsular Games (now the SEA Games) gold medal in the OK Dinghy Class sailing competition. His Majesty, a true sports enthusiast who was involved in various sports disciplines such as badminton, golf, skiing, tennis and sailing, remains the only king in the region to win a SEA Games gold medal. December 16 is therefore recognised as National Sports Day.

Golf star Ariya Jutanugarn pinned a new chapter in the history book by becoming the first Thai to win on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour following her victory in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic in Alabama, May 2016. She continued her impressive form to win back-to-back titles at Kingsmill Championship in Virginia and LPGA Volvik Championship in Michigan in the same month, making her the only player to win her first three titles in consecutive tournaments. Ariya stepped even higher to become the first Thai to win a Major title in the 2016 Women’s Open and rose to No 1 in the world in June 2017. To date, she has won 10 LPGA titles, including her second major victory at the 2018 US Women’s Open. She is the first player in history to win Player of the Year, Race to CME Globe, Annika Major Award, LPGA Vare Trophy, Top 10 Leaders, be top of the Money List and be ranked world No 1, all in the same season.

Lightning quick leftie

On July 15, 1975, Saensak Muangsurin, a southpaw from Phetchabun, put Thailand on the world map when he defeated Perico Fernandez of Spain for the WBC light welterweight title by technical knockout in the eighth round. It was only his third professional fight and Saensak thus set a world record for taking the shortest time to win the world title. Sadly, he passed away on April 16 2009 but Saensak’s place in the record books and people’s hearts is assured.

Prasert Changmoon 

An historic goal

On October 1, 1990 – Chinese National Day – Prasert Changmoon broke the hearts of the fans at the packed Workers Stadium in Beijing by scoring the goal that knocked the hosts out of the Asian Games in the quarter-finals, one of the biggest results in Thai football history. However, the Kingdom has never managed to grab an Asian Games football medal, finishing fourth four times, in 1990, 1998, 2002 and 2014.

 A King from Khon Kaen

At Atlanta 1996, another boxing sensation Somluck Khamsing announced himself on the world stage when he defeated Bulgarian Serafim Todorov in the men’s featherweight final to capture Thailand’s first ever Olympic gold medal. The Khon Kaen-born has a roller-coaster career but will always be regarded as a Thai boxing legend. His successors Wijan Ponlid won the men’s flyweight in Sydney Games four years later and Somjit Jongjohor also in flyweight in Beijing 2008.

Courting attention

Tennis had never been at the forefront of Thai sports circles until Paradorn Srichaphanstunned the world by knocking out former champion Andre Agassi to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2002. A one-time world No 9, Paradorn won four professional titles but the Thai with the best result in a grand slam was Tamarine Tanasugarn, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2008.

Instant megastars

Never before a mass sport, the women’s volleyball team turned themselves into overnight megastars after they beat odds-on favourites China to win the 2009 Asian Championships with a 3-1 victory in Hanoi. Ever since then Thailand has been gripped by volleyball fever and it has become one of the Kingdom’s favourite sports. Courting attention Tennis had never been at the forefront of Thai sports circles until Paradorn Srichaphan stunned the world by knocking out former champion Andre Agassi to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2002. A one-time world No 9, Paradorn won four professional titles but the Thai with the best result in a grand slam was Tamarine Tanasugarn, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2008.

Isaan’s celebrated rubbish collector

From garbage to gold, former trash collector Srisaket Sor Rungvisai took the world by storm on March 18, 2017 after dethroning Roman Gonzalez of Nicaragua by a majority decision to take the World Boxing Council super flyweight belt at Madison Square Garden in New York. In their rematch five months later in California, the Thai fighter underlined his supremacy over Gonzalez, this time by knock-out. However, his domination of the WBC flyweight division ended when he was stopped by Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada in April.

Vichai Srivaddhanaprapha, standing on the right, next to the English Premier League trophy, during a picture session with Leicester City after the team won the 2015-16 season.

Vichai: a man never to be forgotten

One of the world’s most astonishing stories in the football history occurred in May 2016 when Leicester City FC, then owned by Thai business tycoon Vichai Srivaddhanaprapha, won the 2015-16 English Premier League trophy while bookmakers gave 5,000-1 odds on them winning the title. Under the reign of the late King Power’s owner Vichai as chairman, the club won the EPL top flight league for the first time in their 132-year history. Two years later, Vichai passed away in a helicopter clash near the team’s King Power Stadium, a loss mourned throughout world sport. He was succeeded as Leicester chairman by his son Aiyawatt.

Thailand women’s football team celebrate after beating Vietnam 2-1 in the fifth place play-off of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in May 2014.

Ladies first

Footballers beat the men to history Thai football fans had always dreamed of seeing their team in the World Cup finals but few expected it would be the women’s team that made that a reality. After beating Vietnam 2-1 in the fifth place playoff at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in May 2014, Thailand earned their first slot at the 2015 Cup Finals in Canada, only to exit at the group stage.

Udomporn Polsak 

An Olympic first

August 15 2004 marked the day that Thailand swelled with pride at its first Olympic female gold medallist as Udomporn Polsak won the 53kg women’s weightlifting competition in Greece, four days before Pawina Thongsuk won the second weightlifting gold for the Kingdom in the women’s 75kg. The Thai weightlifters went on to win three more gold medals, courtesy of Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (53kg) at Beijing 2008, by Sopita Tanasan (53kg) and Sukunya Srisurat (58kg) at Rio 2016.

Ratchanok Intanon at the 2013 Badminton World Championship.

Ratchanok, a record-setter

After winning three World Junior Championships titles from 2009-11, Ratchanok Intanon sent a message to the world that she was a new force to be reckoned with by winning the 2013 Badminton World Championships. Aged just 18, she upset defending and world No 1 Li Xuerui of China in the final to become the sport’s youngest world champion. Three years later, in April 2016, she made headlines again, becoming the first Thai singles player to reach No 1 in the world following three straight Super Series victories (India, Malaysia and Singapore titles), the first player to claim such a hat-trick.

Into the digital age

Finally, as the world is moving at fast pace towards the digital era, tremendous changes are coming, one of which is the increasing presence of technology in sport. Inevitably, eSports is a part of that, even though some people may regard it as no more than video games. Millions of youngsters are die-hard fans of this cyber-version of competition, which will surely one day take its place in the Olympic schedule. Nevertheless, nothing can match or replace real-life sports, which require specialist skills and physical toughness for those who yearn to scale its heights. Its beauty will keep enchanting fans forever.

Federer is about to embark on his bid to lift a ninth Wimbledon title and record-extending 21st major.

Nadal has 18 Grand Slams while Djokovic lays claim to 15.

Between them, the trio have captured 53 of the last 64 majors, stretching back to Federer’s 2003 Wimbledon breakthrough.

“I think these things don’t come around so often,” said Federer.

“It shows that side-by-side we can have incredible careers. Funny enough, you always think somebody takes away something from the other. Probably we have.

“At the same time, we also pushed each other to greater heights, to improve maybe Rafa’s grass, Novak’s whatever, hard courts, my clay.

“I think we definitely became better because of one another.”

Federer will become the oldest Grand Slam champion of all time if he lifts another Wimbledon title in two weeks’ time.

A month short of his 38th birthday, the Swiss will overtake Ken Rosewall who had just turned 37 when he lifted the 1972 Australian Open title.

In another indication of his All England Club dominance, Federer needs only five more wins to reach the 100-victory mark at the tournament.

He has been seeded second for Wimbledon which starts on Monday ahead of Nadal despite lagging a place behind the Spaniard in the world rankings.

Nadal says the system is unfair but Federer insists the seedings will have little effect on the outcome.

“We knew that the system was in place. I guess it rewards you for playing well on grass,” said Federer.

“Just happens that this year I get bumped up. Kevin Anderson got bumped up. Back in the day, it was tougher. Guys who were seeded became unseeded. So that was a bigger storyline I think than this one.

“Just happens that Rafa obviously went down, so I think that makes the news.”

The draw left two-time champion Nadal potentially facing Federer in the semi-finals — if he gets that far.

The 33-year-old could meet Nick Kyrgios in the second round, five years after the then unknown Australian knocked him out in one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks.

However, Federer cannot be too complacent with a possible semi-final against Anderson.

Last year, he lost in the quarter-finals to the giant South African despite having a match point.

The 21-year-old Japanese star, who at Wimbledon is bidding for a third Grand Slam title in the last four, admitted she had not been prepared for the pressure that being number one brought.

Barty replaced her as number one last Sunday when she won the WTA title at Birmingham.

“Yeah, I mean, mentally it was way more stress and pressure than I could have imagined,” said Osaka at her pre-Wimbledon press conference.

“I don’t think there was anything that could have prepared me for that, especially since I’m kind of an overthinker.

“So, yeah, I think it’s better for me now to be, like, I was going to say lower ranked – isn’t that crazy – to be No. 2 here because the only upside is if you win the tournament, you’re automatically No. 1.

“That, for sure, is a really big goal of mine.”

Osaka, who said at the time her third round exit at the French Open was “the best thing that could have happened”, says she can focus on winning the grass court title without the added concern of preserving her number one status.

“I don’t have to think about defending the ranking or anything,” she said.

“Also I’m really happy for Ashleigh. She’s super amazing. I think her whole story of how she quit and came back is super cool.”

-‘It was fancy’ –

Osaka complained at the French Open the pressure was inducing constant headaches, stress and fatigue. As she heads into Wimbledon, she said if anything she was overthinking even more than before.

“You know the song ‘Mo Money Mo Problems’?” she said, smiling.

“There might not necessarily be more problems, but I’m definitely overthinking more.”

One thing Osaka says she will not repeat is what she tried at the Birmingham tournament when she did not sit on the chair provided for players during the changeovers.

“Birmingham was cool,” she said, although she exited in the second round.

“It’s just like during that match I had so much stuff on my mind, then I was trying to change something, whether it be sitting on the floor, whatever, (I was trying) to change something to switch up the atmosphere.

“I’ll never do that again.”

In her last two trips to Wimbledon Osaka has got no further than the third round but she says was attracted to the sole grass court Grand Slam at an early age, although not solely for tennis reasons.

“I thought it was so fancy,” she said. “They’re fancy over there. Then I thought strawberries and cream.

“Then I thought, hmm, I don’t know. I thought it would be pretty. Because it looks pretty on the TV.

“The fancy part was probably relatively young when I was around 12. Strawberries and cream probably a little bit older.”

“Manchester United is delighted to confirm the signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace,” United staid in a statement.

“Aaron has signed a five-year contract with an option to extend for a further year.”

The 21-year-old made just 42 Premier League appearances for the Eagles, but was an outstanding performer last season.

An initial fee of £45 million with an extra £5 million in add-ons has reportedly been agreed between the clubs, making Wan-Bissaka the most expensive defender in United’s history.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling and an honour to call myself a Manchester United player and something I know that only a small number of players have the privilege to say,” said Wan-Bissaka.

The Red Devils are in need of an overhaul after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season to miss out on Champions League qualification.

A long-term replacement at right-back for club captain Antonio Valencia, who left Old Trafford at the end of last season when his contract expired, was one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s priorities in the transfer market.

“Aaron is one of the best upcoming defenders in the Premier League,” said Solskjaer.

“He has the right work ethic, talent and mentality to play for Manchester United and he fits exactly the type of player that we are looking to bring into the squad to help us improve and push on further.”

Wan-Bissaka will become United’s second signing of the summer following the arrival of winger Daniel James from Swansea as United turn their attention towards young, British players rather than the expensive star buys of recent seasons.

He will travel with his new teammates for a pre-season tour in Australia, Singapore and China after a short break to recover from a disappointing under-21 European Championships with England.

Wan-Bissaka scored an injury time own goal to gift France a 2-1 victory in England’s opening game in Italy and was then dropped for matches with Romania and Croatia as Aidy Boothroyd’s side crashed out at the group stages.

“I will have a short break now after the European Championships but I’m looking forward to starting training with the manager and my new team-mates on the pre-season tour,” he added.

The 33-year-old, who moved to within two of Roger Federer’s record 20 Grand Slam triumphs with his 12th French Open earlier this month, said his qualms over Wimbledon organisers modifying the seedings according to grass court form rather than adhering to the world rankings, were valid as it is the only Grand Slam event to do so.

Nadal has been leap-frogged by eight-time champion Roger Federer in the seedings with the Spaniard seeded three, one below his ranking of second in the world.

He believes men’s tour ruling body the ATP should use their influence that comes with giving Wimbledon 2000 ranking points to affect how they seed the players.

“I respect all the situations,” said Nadal at his pre-Wimbledon press conference on Saturday.

“The stuff is about the ATP. We give two thousand points to this event.

“We let them to do whatever they want. That’s something that I don’t understand, because I can’t create an impact, not by myself.”

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion, said he was also worried the impact that altered seedings could have on the end of season rankings on players such as Alexander Zverev or Dominic Thiem.

Last year’s beaten finalist Kevin Anderson has been seeded fourth even though he has had an injury-affected season and is ranked at eight in the world, below Zverev and French Open finalist Thiem.

“Of course, it can create an impact in the rankings at the end of the year,” said Nadal,

“For example for Sascha (Zverev), for Dominic.

“It is not only about grass. The season is not only on grass.

“All the players work so hard to be where they are, then arrive here, they see a possibility to be in a tougher draw because of that.”

– ‘Their own rules’ –

Nadal, who has a tough draw with the possibility of facing Nick Kyrgios in the second round provided the Spaniard beats Yuichi Sugita in the opening match, believes the rules are not fair.

“I respect the Wimbledon rules,” he said.

“Another thing is if I believe that is fair or not, that’s another story. I really personally believe is not.”

Nadal says his criticism does not mean he is lacking in respect for the tournament itself.

“I really respect the tournament so much,” he said.

“I respect the history of this event. I really understand that they see the sport from another perspective.

“They want to do it by their own rules.”

The defending five-time world champion was knocked back to fifth on the grid after stewards ruled that he had impeded Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo during qualifying.

The penalty knocks his and Mercedes’ hopes of extending their unprecedented early-season run of victories after eight straight wins.

Hamilton wrote on Instagram: “Totally deserved the penalty today and have no problem accepting it.

“Was a mistake on my behalf and I take full responsibility for it. It wasn’t intentional. Anyway, tomorrow is another day and an opportunity to rise.

“These things are sent to try us. We all have to push through whatever it is we are up against, whether it’s right or wrong. Just continue to believe in yourself.”

Hamilton leads his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 36 points in the drivers’ title race ahead of Sunday’s race, having won six of this year’s eight races. Bottas won the other two.

Bottas starts third on the grid behind a front row made up of two of Formula One’s stars of the future –- 21-year-old tyros Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

Sweden had not beaten Germany at a major women’s tournament since the 1995 World Cup, failing to win any of their subsequent meetings at World Cups, European Championships and Olympics in almost quarter of a century.

That run included defeats in the 2003 World Cup final and the gold medal match at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but they gained revenge in Rennes, coming from behind to win their quarter-final 2-1.

Lina Magull had given Germany a 16th-minute lead with a fine finish from a Sara Daebritz assist, but the excellent Sofia Jakobsson equalised soon after on a hot evening in Brittany.

The winner arrived three minutes after half-time, with Blackstenius prodding home the rebound after Almuth Schult had saved a Fridolina Rolfo header.

Despite bringing on star player Dszenifer Marozsan, who had missed the previous three games with a broken toe, Germany remained blunt as the clock ticked down.

Blackstenius had scored Sweden’s winner against Canada in the last round and also netted against the Germans in that Olympic final defeat in 2016.

“We have talked about the possibilities here for us to go far and win every game,” said a bullish Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson.

“There’s not a single mitochondria in us that’s content. We’re going to go for it.”

The Germans will now be deprived of the chance to defend their Olympic title, with defeat here meaning they fail to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Sweden will join the Netherlands and Great Britain — who have qualified thanks to England’s World Cup run — at the Games instead.

“We are now qualified for the Olympics. That is one thing that has been hanging over our heads for a while,” said Gerhardsson.

Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg told ARD: “The defeat hurts, but we are in a process. We will grow from this experience.”

Sweden go on to a semi-final encounter with the Dutch in Lyon on Wednesday, and they will have a score to settle there too, having lost to the Netherlands at Euro 2017.

The ‘Oranje’ went on to win that tournament and have coped well in France with their status as reigning European champions.

– ‘Dream come true’ –

On Saturday they sank Italy 2-0 in Valenciennes as headed goals from Vivianne Miedema and Stefanie van der Gragt in the second half taking them through to their first ever World Cup semi-final in just their second appearance at the tournament.

“I am very proud of the team. We have very good players. Since our victory at Euro 2017 we have gained a lot of confidence and we have improved enough to do well at this World Cup,” said Dutch coach Sarina Wiegman. She said qualifying for the Olympics was “a dream come true”.

Miedema’s goal means the Arsenal striker — her country’s record goal-scorer — now has 61 in 80 international matches.

Surprise quarter-finalists Italy wilted towards the finish on a hot day and their players were in tears at the end.

“We are really upset because we got this far and had the chance to qualify for the Olympics. That’s what we dreamed of,” said Barbara Bonansea.

“No-one expected all this from us so we can’t be anything but happy.”

The tournament now switches for the closing stages to Lyon — home to Europe’s top women’s club side — with holders the United States and England facing off in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

Megan Rapinoe’s double strike gave the USA a 2-1 win over France on Friday, ending the hosts’ dream of winning the trophy on home soil.

England reached their second successive World Cup semi-final with a straightforward 3-0 win over Norway on Thursday.

The 17-year-old Korean held his nerve to convert his multiple close calls this season into a stunning six-shot victory with his four-day total of 23-under-par 265 at the RM 225,000 (US$54,000) event staged at the Tiara Melaka Golf and Country Club.

Japan’s Naoki Sekito put up a strong final-day charge to card a flawless 66 which included an eagle on hole 16 to take a share of second place with Malaysia’s Sukree Othman (68). Sekito moved up to take over the top spot on the ADT Order of Merit following his strong finish.

Malaysia’s Amir Nazrin produced the shot of the day when he scored his first professional ace on hole four with his nine-iron from 176 yards. He went on to sign for an eventual 73 to end his campaign in tied-32nd.

“It feels so great to finally win, like I said I’ve come so close so many times and to be able to finish it off despite all the pressure I felt today is fantastic,” said Kim, who took home a winner’s purse of US$9,529.28 and received six Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points while the other top six players and ties earned points based on a sliding scale.

Kim returned this morning to finish three holes for a third-round 67 and brought a four-shot lead into the final round. He traded seven birdies against one bogey to become the second Korean to ever win on the ADT following countryman Seung Park.

“I came into the final round with  and then started off with a bogey. I just told myself to stay patient and to just do the best that I can. Coming to end of the round I just knew I was in control and the pressure slowly went away,” added Kim, who is also a two-time winner on the Philippine Golf Tour.

Prior to this week, Kim was knocking hard on the door to his first ADT victory with three top-five finishes this year highlighted by a joint runner-up result in Thailand last month.

Displaying the maturity of an experienced Tour golfer despite only joining the play-for-pay ranks last year, the young Kim was glad to finally get the job done.

“I was in the eighth spot on the Order of Merit before this week. I’m glad to finally move into the top-seven and hopefully I can win a couple more events this year to stay up there,” added the Korean, who moved up to take the third spot on the Merit list.

Leading final round scores :

265 – Joohyung Kim 69 63 67 66

271 – Naoki Sekito 70 65 70 66, Sukree Othman 70 66 67 68

273 – Panuwat Muenlek 71 68 69 65, Chinnarat Phadungsil 70 68 66 69

275 – Shahriffuddin Ariffin 70 67 71 67, Ben Leong 68 69 70 68

She then went out Friday morning and shot 10 birdies en route to an 8-under 63 at the Walmart NWA Championship, the best 18-hole score of her three-year LPGA Tour career. She is one shot behind former world No 1 Inbee Park

“I just tried to hit, like, fairway, green, and my putter was working,” said Sherman. “Even long putt I’m not as good to get in, it dropped. I was like ‘Okay, thank you.’”

Sherman said the round boosted her confidence in her play, aided by her support system. “The friends around me, they just say ‘keep practicing.’ Like last week I was practice round with Eun-Hee [Ji], and she was like, ‘Yeah, you hit it pretty good,’ and I said yeah, and she said keep practicing. And my family is just like, ‘Whatever happens, happens.’”

Santiwiwatthanaphong said her strategy tomorrow is to try and play the same as today. “I can sleep in, because I like to sleep,” she said. “Just get up and play. Try to enjoy it.”

INBEE PARK LEADS BY ONE AT THE WALMART NWA CHAMPIONSHIP

Inbee Park made a charge in Round 1 to lead by one through 18 holes, shooting a bogey-free 9-under 62 in the first round. The 19-time LPGA winner went out in 29 on the back nine with six birdies (five consecutive birdies on Nos. 11 through 15) and came back in 33 with three birdies.

“I was able to hole good putts, and I was controlling the irons really good, I had good distances today, and there was not many in between numbers as well, so it was nice,” said Park after making 26 putts in the first round. “I have played this golf course so many times, so it helps me playing through this week, and I love playing this golf course.”

Just one shot behind Park at -8 is a trio of players: Paula Creamer, Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong and Carlota Ciganda shooting 63s – their best rounds of the season; Santiwiwatthonaphong bested her lowest round of her career by two strokes, while Ciganda tied her season best score.

Three players are tied for fifth at -7 including Ariya Jutanguarn, Annie Park and Maria Torres while defending champion Nasa Hataoka finished at T8 with four other players after carding a 6-under 65.

QUEEN INBEE’S GOT HER SHORT GAME BACK

Inbee Park lit up the back nine at Pinnacle Country Club on Friday, going out in 29 with five consecutive birdies on Nos. 11 through 15 and birdieing No. 18. Park was on track to become the second female professional to break 60, joining Annika Sorenstam but fell short by three strokes, still making birdie on holes No. 1, 3 and 7 for a bogey-free first-round 62.

“I think pretty much after the front 9, that 59 was on the watch,” said Park, who is one stroke in the lead going into the second round. “But I tried to make as many birdies as possible on the front nine, but it’s playing tougher with a few tees moved back, and I had a couple of opportunities missed, but I think I still played really good out there today.”

Park self-professes that her putter hasn’t been hot in recent years but today’s round showed otherwise – she made just 12 putts on the back nine and 14 on the front.

“For a couple of years or so I have been missing a lot of short putts that really I wasn’t really getting used to that, and I don’t want to get used to that at all,” said Park who is currently ranked 39th on Tour in putts per round. “I was just trying to be patient and trying to wait for the day that’s to come. I know I have a good feel on the putter, and it just wasn’t going in the last couple of years or so. I was really waiting for this moment and hopefully I can keep this going.”

The 30-year-old from Republic of Korea is searching for her 20th win on the LPGA Tour and she is $4,995 shy of reaching the $15 million mark in career earnings.

PAULA CREAMER MAKES A HOT START IN ARKANSAS

Thirty-two-year-old Paula Creamer carded an 8-under 63 on Friday, going out in 29 with six birdies and coming back on the front nine with four birdies and a bogey on the par-3 6th. Creamer is making her 10th start of the Walmart NWA Championship but it isn’t her experience around Pinnacle Country Club that helped her make a hot start, it was the work of her team this season.

“My team, we’ve been working hard on my golf, and it was awesome to go out today and give everybody a pat on the back and say, ‘okay we’re heading in the right direction’ today,” said Creamer. “I’ve been working a lot on my putting and it seems to be paying off.  My short game has been pretty good these last several months but driving the ball and giving myself the opportunities is something we have been really trying to clean up. It was a little bit messy there for a while and now I feel like we have it under control, so that’s a big bonus for us.”

Creamer has had a difficult season, missing six cuts in her 10 starts leading up to the week in Rogers, Ark. Her first-round 63 is three strokes better than her previous best at Pinnacle Country Club and the 10-time LPGA winner doesn’t plan on letting up any steam heading into the weekend.

“I want to keep the pedal down. I know I’m playing well—just to feel that, trust myself, trust my instincts and believe I can do it,” said Paula confidently. “I’ll play early tomorrow so hopefully keep that momentum going.”

RAZORBACK RECAP

Three Arkansas Razorbacks returned to the Pinnacle Golf Club and played for the first time at the Walmart NWA Championship as professionals: Maria Fassi, Alana Uriell and Kaylee Benton. After the first round, all three were ecstatic to be back in front of the community as they continue their pro journeys.

“It’s very exciting to come back home now as a professional. I mean, to see my people and to see everyone who supports the Razorbacks, it’s very exciting and they’re as happy as I am to be here,” said Fassi.

“It’s been what I’ve been looking forward to since I got my card honestly. It’s really great to have the support of my Razorbacks and be out here on a course that feels pretty normal for me,” said Uriell.

“It was really fun,” said Benton. “It was a little bit more similar to amateur golf than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t really change my mind set the at all, had fun with Shauna [Taylor] on the bag and had a good time with my group. Overall, it was fun.”

Gaby Lopez sits atop the Razorback leaderboard at -4 while Stacy Lewis is close behind -3. Fassi shot a first round 70, with Uriell and Benton finishing with a 71. Amateur Dylan Kim ended the first round 7-over par.

CIGANDA TAKES ADVANTAGE OF MORNING START AT WALMART

As temperatures rose at the Pinnacle Golf Club, so did Carlota Ciganda’s birdie count. Ciganda sank three in her first three holes, then added six more during the first round to finish one stroke shy of leaderInbee Park at -8. The Spaniard only needed 26 putts to get it done, and hit 16 of 18 greens.

“I think in the mornings the greens are nicer because not many people have played, you can roll the ball better, so I think you have to shoot a low one in the morning.  In the afternoon you have to be more patient, the wind picks up more,” said Ciganda. “You can shoot a low score here, lots of birdies, and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

Ciganda’s 63 tied her career-best 18-hole score, the third time she recorded this season. It is also the lowest she has gone after one round in her Walmart NW Arkansas Championship history.

Teeing off tomorrow at 12:59 p.m., Ciganda hopes to keep her putter hot during the second round. “It will be tough to do something the same, because I made a lot of putts, and not every day you make lots of putts,” said Ciganda. “What I’m going to try to do is I hit 16 greens today, so I think if I hit 16 greens tomorrow, I will have a chance on Sunday.”