ROGERS -- Before Stacy Lewis could walk off the No. 18 green, the Hog calls started.
She stopped and joined in as "Wooo, Pig! Sooey!" rained down from a large crowd that gathered on the expanded grandstand surrounding the finishing hole of the LPGA Northwest Arkansas Championship at Pinnacle Country Club.
Lewis, the defending champion and top U.S. women's golfer, closed a solid second round with a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 18 to move to 9 under for the tournament, putting her in solid contention to challenge for the championship today.
She closed the second round with four birdies over her final five holes, including back-to-back birdies on the par-3 No. 17 and a closing birdie on No. 18 to end a long day. Before starting her second round, Lewis had to finish the final three holes of the first round, which was halted by darkness Friday after two lengthy weather delays.
"I'm so tired right now from a late night and an early morning," she said. "But this week for me is relaxing and it's fun."
Lewis owned the back nine Saturday with large galleries following her every move.
"Yeah, the back nine was pretty fun," she said. "I just stayed patient and finally hit some good shots and rolled the rock there at the end. Those two putts on 17 and 18 were huge just going into tomorrow, but it also gave the fans something to cheer about, too."
Lewis said closing the front side with a birdie at No. 9 was another boost considering the front nine at Pinnacle Country Club is tougher for her.
"I always have a goal here that if I can shoot under par or even on the front nine, I can do something on the back," she said. "So two-putting eight and the birdie on nine were huge. It just mentally gave me the confidence that I had accomplished my goal, and now it freed me up to go play the nine I like better."
Lopez fires 66
Arkansas rising senior Gaby Lopez spent some time meditating Saturday morning before her second round.
"I told myself that I was good enough to play against these girls and to play my best," Lopez said.
Then she went out and proved it. Lopez recorded one of the eight best rounds Saturday, shooting 5-under 66 to finish the first two rounds 4 under and firmly in the field for today's final round.
Lopez, who earned first-team All-America honors as a junior, followed up her 2-over 73 in the opening round with the 66 to make the cut for the second consecutive year in her third appearance at the tournament. Her second round featured six birdies in an eight-hole stretch and she hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation as she bettered her playing partners, who include Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods.
"It's just visualizing myself on the course," Lopez said of her meditation. "It's not something really specific. It's just being in tune with myself and having some internal peace. That was the key for today."
Samantha Marks, a rising junior for the Razorbacks, missed the cut after finishing 8 over. She followed up a first-round 75 by getting off to a poor start Saturday, going bogey, double bogey, bogey on Nos. 11 through 13. She played better on her final nine Friday, when she shot 1 under, but it wasn't enough.
Uribe's best start
Mariajo Uribe doesn't have a lot of fond memories of the Northwest Arkansas Championship.
That's probably because the former UCLA All-American has never made the cut in five previous tournaments. In fact, she had carded only two rounds below par until this year.
Uribe, who has earned more than $1.1 million on tour, turned in back-to-back solid rounds of 66-69 and sits at 7 under heading into today's final round.
"I've never played good here," Uribe said after a par putt at No. 18. "Finally, I'm playing good here. I always thought I should have done well here. So finally, after six years, I've got the hang of it."
Uribe said she has left her driver in the bag more this year.
"I've not been in too much trouble," she said. "I'm just keeping the ball in play, not hitting it 100 percent perfect but getting it on the green and putting it pretty good."
Uribe played in a group with Stacy Lewis and Sandra Gal. All three were under par after two rounds.
Sports on 06/28/2015