Sarah Schmelzel shares mid-round chat with caddie that turned her day at Walmart NW Arkansas Championship

Sarah Schmelzel was heading for an average finish at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Round 1, before she went into beast mode on the back nine. Before shooting 14 on the last five holes, she had a chat with her caddie that motivated her to put her best foot forward.

On Friday, September 19, Sarah Schmelzel carded 8-under 63 with the help of an eagle and seven birdies. She had finished the front nine at 2-under, then made straight pars on the next four holes. On the 14th, she spoke to her caddie and motivated herself as she didn’t see herself going anywhere in the round.

"You're hoping you can finish that well," she said. "Well, I told my caddie, walking to the green on 14. "I was like, I need to start making some birdies or else I'm gonna get laughed out here today. So it was just a few good wedge shots. And then I made a longer one on, I guess, 17 and then just hit it really close on 18, which was nice to end that way"

Following this conversation, Sarah Schmelzel picked up four straight birdies and then eagled the 18th to take the joint lead alongside Minami Katsu.

Reflecting on her performance, she said her front-nine performance wasn’t bad either.

"I was pretty steady on the front nine," she added. "Hit a couple loose shots and didn't have I guess much momentum, but wasn't really doing anything too poorly."

"Fortunately hit a couple close and made a few longer range putts and capped it off with a good shot into 18. Felt like it was a pretty steady day overall. The putter is feeling good, so that's always nice when out here when you know you need to make a bunch of birdies." she added.

Sarah Schmelzel's scorecard at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Round 1 explored

Here's a look at the hole-by-hole performance of Sarah Schmelzel at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Round 1:

Hole 1, par 4: Par (E)
Hole 2, par 5: Birdie (-1)
Hole 3, par 3: Birdie (-1)
Hole 4, par 4: Birdie (-1)
Hole 5, par 4: Birdie (-1)
Hole 6, par 3: Par (-)
Hole 7, par 5: Birdie (-1)
Hole 8, par 4: Birdie (-1)
Hole 9, par 4: Birdie (-2)
Hole 10, par 4: Par (-2)
Hole 11, par 3: Par (-2)
Hole 12, par 4: Par (-2)
Hole 13, par 4: Par (-2)
Hole 14, par 5: Birdie (-3)
Hole 15, par 3: Birdie (-4)
Hole 16, par 4: Birdie (-5)
Hole 17, par 3: Birdie (-6)
Hole 18, par 5: Eagle (-8)

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Shobhit is one of Sportskeeda’s most seasoned golf journalists, having already authored 3600+ articles and received nearly 5.7 million reads. Prior to his current role, he worked with the Asiana Times after completing his MSc in Geology, giving him a solid foundation in understanding the terrain, variety and challenges posed by various golf courses.

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Shobhit was a fan of Tiger Woods growing up, but of late, Nelly Korda, Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg have caught his attention.

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Edited by Shobhit Kukreti