Thomas receives exemption to Walmart NW Arkansas Championship; Milligan moving up LPGA ranks

ROGERS, Ark. – Tournament officials announced today that current Arkansas Razorback and 2024 SEC Freshman of the Year Maria José Marin, Northwest Arkansas native and Epson Tour professional Lilly Thomas Russell and Kathy Whitworth Junior Invitational winner Shyla Brown have accepted sponsor exemptions to compete in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, taking place Sept. 23-29 at Pinnacle Country Club.

One of the most family-friendly events on the LPGA Tour, the #NWAChampionship will feature a variety of community-driven events and experiences for spectators of all ages, including the BITE Experience food festival and enhanced onsite areas for families, including the Walmart P&G Kids Confidence Club and the Pampers Family Tent. Tournament tickets and the full schedule of events are available at www.NWAChampionship.com.

The 2024 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G will mark the first year for the tournament officially recognized as a GEO Certified Sustainable Golf Tournament, only the second LPGA Tour event in LPGA history to achieve the designation. The designation became official following the 2023 event, and officials are encouraging spectators to support the initiative onsite at this year’s tournament.

COMPETITION: The #NWAChampionship Announces 2024 Sponsor Exemptions

Maria José Marin, a Women’s Golf Coaches of America (WGCA) First Team All-American and current member of the Arkansas Razorback women’s golf team, joins Northwest Arkansas native and Epson Tour professional Lilly Thomas Russell and 2024 Kathy Whitworth Junior Invitational winner Shyla Brown as sponsor exemptions for the 2024 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. José Marin and Brown will be making their LPGA Tour tournament debuts at Pinnacle Country Club.

José Marin, ranked No. 15 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, received the exemption on behalf of Walmart through the Road to the #NWAChampionship program. The program, presented by General Mills, awards an exemption annually to the top-ranked member of the Arkansas Razorback Women’s Golf Team. She was named the SEC Freshman of the Year for the 2023-24 season, headlined by her first collegiate victory at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational presented by Tyson Foods in October of 2023. She won eight World Amateur Golf Rankings events in 2023, including the Mexican Women’s Amateur and the South American Women’s Amateur. A two-time participant in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur – she advanced to the final round in both 2023 and 2024 (T-14 in 2023 and T-30 in 2024), Marin became the first South American golfer to advance to the final round at Augusta National in 2023.

Russell, a Northwest Arkansas native and University of Tulsa women’s golf alumnus, will compete for the second time at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G as a sponsor exemption. In 2023, Thomas competed at the #NWAChampionship in her final year at the University of Tulsa. She earned full-time Epson Tour status at the 2023 LPGA Q-Series for the 2024 season. Thomas grew up playing at Pinnacle Country Club as a junior golfer and was a former volunteer Standard Bearer at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G during her high school years at Bentonville High School.

Brown, 16, a decorated junior golfer from McKinney, Texas, is competing in her first LPGA Tour event as a result of winning the 2024 Kathy Whitworth Invitational Junior Girls Golf Championship in March. Brown, a member of the 2023 American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Junior Golf All-Star Team and the 2024 U.S. Junior National Team, most recently finished T-9 at the USGA’s U.S. Girls Junior Championship in July.

They will join an elite field of 144 players that features many of the world’s top female professional golfers and other notable Northwest Arkansas players, including Razorback alums Maria Fassi, Stacy Lewis and Gaby Lopez.

One of those players could be former University of Oklahoma star Kaitlin Milligan, who despite limited opportunities as a rookie on the LPGA Tour has been playing solid golf of late.

Milligan only made three starts through June and missed the cut in all three. Since then however she has made the cut in her last four tournaments, finished in the top 52 in all four and collected $38,835 to rank 159th on the money list. She’ll need to move up into the top 125 to keep status for 2025.

Her scoring average in those seven events is 71.64 and she has made four eagles and 66 birdies.