The LPGA Tour is making a pivotal stop in Rogers, Arkansas, this week as the 2025 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G tees off at Pinnacle Country Club from September 19th –21st. It’s not just another pit stop, but this 54-hole event (in its 19th edition) has significant implications, with only eight regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

While every year the tournament sees some of the biggest names on the LPGA, this year’s field features 19 of the 25 LPGA Tour winners from the 2025 season. Headlining the lineup in the 144-player field are players like Nelly Korda, Lottie Woad, and Miyu Yamashita, along with reigning 2025 U.S. Women’s Open champion Maja Stark. Stark, who is coming off a strong tied 5th finish last week at the Kroger Queen City Championship, is hoping to erase her mediocre tied 24th finish here last year, and honestly, with her current form, it would be odd to bet against that.

But not just her, rookies Miyu Yamashita and Lottie Woad are also riding the momentum of top-five finishes last week at TPC River’s Bend and are shaping up to be serious contenders as they take on Pinnacle Country Club for the first time. Yamashita has already proven her mettle this season with a stunning win at the AIG Women’s Open just last month, solidifying her place among the game’s elite. Woad, meanwhile, has been equally electric — winning the Women’s Irish Open on the LET earlier in July and following it up with another victory at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open in the same month.

With only eight regular-season events left on the LPGA calendar, every shot counts for the rookies and the rest of the players as they aim to earn a spot within the top 60 in the Race to the CME Globe standings. The top 60 in the standings will then compete in November at the CME Group Tour Championship, which comes with a massive $4 million winner’s share. So it means the stop here in Arkansas has a lot at stake.

Beyond the opportunity to improve their rankings, there’s also a sizeable reward in terms of prize money this week. The 2025 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship purse is set at $3 million, with the winner taking home approximately $450,000—a standard 15% winner’s share on the LPGA. While the purse is relatively smaller compared to some events like the majors, it’s higher than last week’s $2 million purse in Ohio.

The prize money is also accompanied by 500 Race to the CME Globe points and a two-year LPGA Tour exemption for the winner. So, let’s take a look at the prize money breakdown in detail, which will be distributed amongst the top 65 & ties who make the cut after 36 holes:

Beyond the money, a victory here also earns valuable Rolex Women’s World Golf Ranking points and opens the door to invitations for elite events later in the season and in 2026. For those sitting just outside the top 60 in the CME standings, this Arkansas stop is the golden ticket before the LPGA heads to Asia in the fall, where getting in isn’t exactly easy unless you’ve racked up enough points.

While for some players, this week is all about solidifying their spots in the CME standings, for Nelly Korda, the worries are different. The 15-time LPGA champion is still searching for her first win this season.

Nelly Korda continues her search for victory at the 2025 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

For the first time since 2022, Nelly Korda will tee it up at Pinnacle Country Club, returning to the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship with redemption on her mind. The former world No. 1 missed the cut in her last appearance here but enters this week in promising form, fresh off a T5 finish at the Kroger Queen City Championship.

With current world No. 1 and 2022 Arkansas champion Jeeno Thitikul skipping this year’s edition, Korda is headlining the field this week. Korda has had a strong season with seven top-10 finishes already, including runner-up results at the U.S. Women’s Open and the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Yet despite her consistency, she hasn’t tasted victory this season. It is a surprising drought for someone who dominated the LPGA just a year ago, winning seven titles in 2024, and took the golfing world by storm.

Because of that, expectations for Korda were sky-high coming into the season, but the momentum she rode in 2024 has given way to a frustrating pattern of near-misses. Even though she hasn’t missed a single cut all year, her final-round scoring has emerged as a glaring issue. An analyst noted that her final-round scoring average has slipped from 69.58 to 71.27 this season, erasing what always looked like a promising start to keep her in contention. Performances in tournaments like the Women’s Scottish Open and the Mizuho Americas Open are proof of the same, where her final rounds of 71 & 73, respectively, cost her titles.

Combine this stat with a dip in her GIR percentage, from 3rd on tour last year to 16th this year, and it’s clear that while Korda remains elite, the margin for error is slimmer than ever. Let’s hope that this week at Arkansas will turn things around for her and hopefully help her earn her World No.1 title again.