New mom Jackie Stoelting among leaders at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
Jackie Stoelting last teed it up on the LPGA in June 2019 at the Meijer LPGA Classic. That was before she became a mother. Stoelting and her husband Travis welcomed son Baren into the world last September.
Now, Stoelting is going after her first LPGA title as a mom. She’s among three players tied for the lead after the first round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Arkansas. She, Esther Lee and Anna Nordqvist all fired rounds of 7-under 64 to open the event on Friday.
Stoelting went bogey-free, and closed out her day with a back-nine 30.
“It’s been 14 months I think since my last round out here, so didn’t really have many expectations, but also have an extremely different perspective on life now that I’m a mom,” Stoelting said. “So I just was out here really trying to have fun and take it one shot at a time.”
Normally, without a distraction like her daughter, Stoelting might return to her room and scroll scores all night. Now she has a much better way to spend her time.
But for COVID, and the additional challenges of traveling with a baby in the middle of a pandemic, Stoelting might have returned sooner. In the build-up to her return to competition, Stoelting’s own mom would often come over to babysit while she hit the golf course.
“I actually played in the Florida Open three weeks ago as a test event just to see if even I was OK mentally, physically being away from my son while I played,” Stoelting said. “I finished third there, so I was like, all right. Literally the next day I signed up for Arkansas.”
As for Nordqvist, who is coming off a T-32 at the AIG Women’s British Open, didn’t have a single bogey on her card either. Lee’s only misstep came at the par-4 10th hole.
It’s a packed leaderboard in Rogers, with six players right on the leading trio’s heels at 6 under. That group includes Stephanie Meadow, who was among the last players to come off the course. She brought in a round of 6-under 65 that included an eagle on the par-5 18th.
Along with Meadow, Austin Ernst, Mina Harigae, Katherine Kirk and Maria Fernanda Torres are also at 6 under.
Stacy Lewis, who earned her first victory as a mom earlier this month at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, was part of a group tied for 10th at 5 under.
