ROGERS, Ark. – Rolex World No. 1 Yani Tseng (66-67-68 = 201) won in thrilling fashion over Amy Yang to successfully defend her title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. More:

It’s before dawn and Kim Ellis, along with an army of volunteers, is already at work for the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. But it’s happy work for Ellis, even more so than it is hard. Since she first volunteered for the inaugural LPGA Tour event in 2007, the tournament has been a highlight to the end of her summers for the last five years.

“It’s one of the most organized and fun events that I’ve been involved in," said Ellis, a Volunteer General Chairman. “I look forward to all my volunteers who just keep coming back every year because they make my job so much fun and it’s just exciting to see how excited everybody is. As people come back each year, you start to develop some really great friends."

In five-straight years as a volunteer Ellis has seen the event grow exponentially since the tournament’s earliest beginnings. “The excitement of watching the tournament each year is great but just seeing each year how the event grows from the year before and improves and gets better is one reason I volunteer, you get to see how your work has helped the event up-close," she said.

Volunteering for an Official LPGA Tournament also provides Ellis and the rest of the tournament’s 700 plus volunteers an inside-look at a professional sporting event. “It gives me the chance to learn more about the players and the Tour and more about the LPGA which puts on such a great event. And this year, the weather’s so beautiful, just being outside, it makes everyone want to be here even more," she said.

Be it as a volunteer or as a spectator, Ellis knows there’s something special about being in NW Arkansas in September. “Truly, meeting all these new faces and people, hearing their stories people and how many of them travel from far places to come here and how much they love it, it’s a great thing."

Congratulations to Tour professionals Anna Nordqvist, Mi Hyun Kim and Jenny Shin who, with help from their talented amateur teammates, racked up notable finishes during the last day of Official Pro-Am competition. To view the results from the day, click here.

LPGA Tour professional and U.S. Solheim cup team member Morgan Pressel sat down with members of the media to discuss using this week as preparation for an American victory. "There's nothing that I really get more excited about than playing in the Solheim Cup," said Pressel. "That's why I'm here... I'm here to win and to feel really confident about my game heading into Solheim Cup... I think the golf course is in the best shape it's ever been in." To read the rest of the interview > click here

LPGA Tour professionals wrap up a week long of practice and pro-am rounds today and will begin a three-day weekend of official competition during the first round of the 2011 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G tomorrow. Notable groups for the day include: Brittany Lincicome, Paula Creamer and Karrie Webb at 8:27 a.m. off Tee #10; Morgan Pressel, Ai Miyazato and Cristie Kerr at 8:38 a.m. off Tee #10. In the afternoon, Stacy Lewis, Sandral Gal and Michelle Wie tee off at 12:11 p.m. on Tee #1 and Natalie Gulbis, Meena Lee, and Juli Inkster at 12:22 p.m. To view the pairings, click here. 

Congratulations to Tour professionals Samantha Richdale, Ai Miyazato and Amelia Lewis who, with their talented amateur teammates, racked up notable finishes during the first day of Official Pro-Am competition. To view the results from the day, click here.

Yani Tseng spoke to the Arkansas media this morning about defending her 2010 victory and becoming the Rolex World No. 1. “It’s very exciting to be back here [Arkansas], I played 18 holes yesterday and am feeling very fresh after having a week off last week,” said Tseng.  About her 2011 season, “This year my goal was to become world number one and I did it. I never thought I'd win two majors this year and now that’s happened as well, it's incredible. I just feel like I'm living the dream.” Tseng is the youngest golfer to win five major championships at the age of 22.

For the full interview > CLICK HERE

Danielle Kang sat down with the Arkansas media this morning to discuss her back-to-back U.S. Amateur wins and about making her pro debut at this week tournament.  “It’s been an awesome week and I am very excited for the first round to start on Friday,” said Kang. Asked if she has had any jitters over making her pro debut, “I’m pretty excited. I love this kind of environment and the competition and I just want to have some fun and play my game.” Kang is no stranger to the LPGA as she has played in a number of events and made the cut in all four of the majors finishing as the low amateur at the 2011 Ricoh’s Women’s Open Championship.

To view the full interview > CLICK HERE

Stacy Lewis sat down with members of the media today to discuss her expectations for the week. "I'm just looking forward to the week and seeing how many people we can get out there," said Lewis. After experiencing a passionate crowd during last year's championship rounds on Hole #17, Lewis has been telling all of the other players how exciting the atmosphere can get. Most of the players call this event the "Stacy Lewis Open." "I can go anywhere in the country and people just love me because I went to Arkansas. The People here are so great, they're such great fans. I know we've got some Hogs call plans for 17 this week, so it should be fun."

To view the full interview > click here

LPGA Tour professionals will join together with Tournament sponsors and guests to compete in the first day of Official Pro-Am competition on Wednesday. Several notable LPGA Tour professionals will tee off, including: Karribe Webb (7:00am), Brittany Lincicome (7:30am), Yani Tseng (7:40am), Suzann Pettersen (8:30am), Stacy Lewis (12:00pm), Paula Creamer (12:10pm), and Christina Kim (12:20pm). To view the pairings, click here.

A three-way playoff between Meredith Duncan (73), Jean Bartholemew (73), and Taylore Karle (73) was needed today on hole 15, a par-3 island hole at Pinnacle Country Club to determine the final two playing spots into the 2011 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G final field. More:

The year-long wait is over for Paul Eiserman, Director of Golf at Pinnacle Country Club,  as the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G begins play this week. With the arrival of many of LPGA Tour favorites today and cooler temperatures in the upper 70’s to start the week, Eiserman and his team are ready to display tournament preparations that have been a year in the making.
 
“We try to keep the course conditions very good all the time, obviously there’s a little bit more detail work here and we enjoy putting this event on,” said Eiserman. “From the superintendent staff, to food and beverage, to the golf shop staff, we want to have these girls have a good time.”

Making sure the LPGA Tour players enjoy their time spent in the NW Arkansas community, is something Eiserman has heard about first-hand from players themselves. “A lot of the players tell me they love the families they get to stay with. You know this is the fifth year of this event and we have people coming back that stay with the same families every year and the families look forward to them,” he said.

Eiserman added, “They’re calling and texting with them throughout the year and it becomes kind of like a family event. Its’ Labor Day today and so these girls are coming in and our members structure their vacations around welcoming these girls in and they root them in all week long.”

Apart from the welcoming accommodations, Eiserman notes the greens will be welcoming, for birdies that is. “It’s going to be 55 degrees in the morning which is definitely cooler than what we’ve had, I  think the bent grass greens are going to benefit from that and they’re going to stay firm and fast, you know the weather is perfect right now,” he said. “If you can’t enjoy this weather, you can’t enjoy anything.”

World’s No. 1 Returns to Arkansas for LPGA Tour Event

ROGERS, Ark. – Tournament officials announced today that Yani Tseng has committed to defend her title at this year’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G will again partner with 12 local charities for a unique ticket selling program designed to benefit the local community.  The 12 participating charities will keep 100% of the proceeds generated from $25 daily ticket sales to benefit their respective organizations. In 2010 more than $66,000 was donated to local organizations through the Charity Ticket Program. Since 2009, more than $136,000 has been raised. To purchase daily tickets, please contact the following participating charities: CLICK HERE FOR MORE