Sarah Burnham knows the clock is ticking. The former Michigan State star sits 132nd in the Race to the CME Globe points standings and needs to climb quickly to avoid dusting off her Q-school syllabus at season’s end.
If Friday’s opening round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship is any indication, though, Burnham isn’t going down without a fight.
The two-time Big Ten Player of the Year put together the best round of her LPGA career just when she needed it most, finishing with a 64 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas. With two rounds to play, she sits a single stroke behind A Lim Kim, Katherine Kirk and Eun-Hee Ji.
Knowing there are just a handful of tournaments remaining on the LPGA 2021 schedule, and with missed cuts in her last three events, Burnham’s parents made the trip to see their daughter — the first time they’d done so since seeing her post a previous best 66 at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at San Francisco’s Olympic Club.
“I kind of want to make sure their time is worthwhile out here. Because they don’t come a lot, but when they do I want them to enjoy themselves and I don’t want to play bad necessarily,” Burnham told LPGA.com. “But you can’t always control that. Maybe they are my lucky charm.”
There’s plenty of work to be done, however.
Kim got hot down the stretch on Friday, going even through the first six holes, but then posting five straight birdies. She also closed with an eagle.
Meanwhile, Kirk did it with a hot front, posting four birdies on the opening seven holes.
Others who opened with impressive rounds include Nasa Hataoka (65), Pajaree Anannarukarn (66), Ariya Jutanugarn (66). Americans Jennifer Kupcho and Stacy Lewis each opened with rounds of 67, as did local favorite Brooke Matthews, an amateur from Arkansas.
For Burnham, though, she can’t worry about the field and instead needs to focus on her own game.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” said Burnham. “It does weigh on me a little bit, but whether I have to go back to Q-School or not, just see how these next four weeks go.”