With weather delays, a first-hole double bogey and a victory by the favorite, the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur had uncanny similarities to last year’s Masters Tournament.

In a standout amateur career, the sterling silver trophy from the Augusta National Women’s Amateur was one of the few pieces of hardware that had eluded Rose Zhang. Not anymore.

On her fourth attempt, the top-ranked women’s amateur in the world finally won the fourth edition of the tournament in 2023. Shooting a 76 in the rain-delayed final round of the 54-hole tournament, Zhang held on to defeat University of Georgia fifth-year student Jenny Bae on the second hole of a sudden death playoff.

“The beginning of this week has been pretty crazy already with … a lot of expectations on me, and I had a lot of expectations on myself. To overcome everything, I’m just super grateful to be here,” said Zhang, a then-19-year-old Stanford University sophomore.

And maybe, just maybe, a double bogey on the first hole at Augusta National Golf Club is a fortuitous omen of good things to come.

After all, just as Jon Rahm, a pre-tournament favorite and winner of the 2023 Masters Tournament, double bogeyed No. 1 in the first round of last year’s tournament, Zhang started the ANWA final round with a double on the first hole.

“I tried to stay as composed as possible, but at the same time, I was a little tight the first couple holes. I just felt like my swing wasn’t comfortable, and I really just tried to stay in the moment,” she said.

Record-Setting Pace

The tournament, where the first two rounds were played at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, featured 72 of the world’s top amateur golfers, and Zhang started off on a record-setting pace.

With six birdies in the first round, she shot a bogey-free 66 to set an 18-hole record in the tournament. Zhang birdied two of the par-3s and each of the four par-5s, including a 50-foot putt on No. 14. A birdie on her final hole gave her the outright lead after the first round.

“In golf, par-5 scoring is very important for a good round. For me to be able to do that and capitalize on every par-5, I think it shows my game’s in a pretty consistent, good direction,” Zhang said.

Sweden’s Andrea Lignell, a University of Mississippi senior, was one shot back with a bogey-free round of 67.

“I did not expect a bogey-free round today. There’s a lot of tough holes out there where you can easily be OK walking off with a bogey. So I definitely did not expect it, but I’m really happy,” said Lignell, who was making her first appearance in the tournament.

Bae, who also played in the tournament in 2022, was in third place at three-under 69.

However, because of the preferred lies Rule 9.4 that was put in place due to inclement weather prior to the tournament, the first round was not as kind to defending champion Anna Davis.

On her first hole, she lifted her ball and failed to replace it on its original spot on two separate occurrences. Under the preferred lies rule, which was in place for the first and second rounds, players could take free relief when their ball lay in areas cut to fairway height or less.

Davis was penalized two strokes for each occurrence of playing from a wrong place, increasing her score on the hole from 5 to 9.

“So, preferred lies were only in the fairway today, and I learned that after the first hole. On my first drive, I was in the rough, did my little thing. There’s mud on it. My second shot in the rough, same thing. So that was a four-shot penalty right there,” said Davis, who learned of the ruling when she was on the fourth tee. “Little rough start to the day, but that’s all right, it happens. It’s a learning experience.”

Weather also affected the second round when fog pushed back the start by an hour on Thursday morning. The delay did not deter Zhang, however.

After a record-setting performance in round one, she broke her own record in round two when she finished one stroke better with a seven-under 65. She also shattered the 36-hole record of five-under 139 that Jennifer Kupcho established in the inaugural ANWA in 2019.

On the front nine, Zhang had three birdies in her first four holes and a 30-foot eagle on the par-5 ninth hole. With a single bogey through 36 holes, she played the four par-5s in nine-under in the first two rounds to post a score of 13-under-par.

“I feel like I did everything pretty well today. I feel like I was hitting my irons a lot better than what I did yesterday, and yesterday I made a lot of long putts. Today I had a lot of good looks for birdie from short range. So that definitely allowed me to get some more birdie looks and convert some more putts,” Zhang said.

Lignell shot 69 to finish the first two rounds at eight-under 136, and she birdied her final hole to stay in solo second place. Carding a 68, Bae sat in third place at seven-under.

With the top 30 players and ties advancing to the final round at Augusta National on Saturday, 31 players made the cut, which fell at two-over 146, last year.

‘Aha Moment’

By making the cut, Zhang became the only player to move on to the final round in all four years of the tournament. She also took a commanding five-stroke lead into the third round at Augusta National. However, her lead started to slip away as she struggled on Saturday.

“I feel like it’s always difficult to have such a big lead, especially on such a prestigious stage. When things matter the most and you have a big lead but the job’s not done, it definitely puts a lot of things into perspective,” Zhang said.

With the double bogey on the first hole, along with three bogeys and a birdie, Zhang was four-over par through seven holes when rain halted play for more than three hours.

Zhang said she didn’t do anything special during the delay. Once the tournament resumed, however, she had an “aha moment” on No. 13 where she made a grip change to weaken the grip on her right hand and get her driver “back on track.”

“I figured out a little trigger point in my golf swing, and from then on, it was kind of smooth sailing, grinding from there,” Zhang said.

She birdied No. 13 but bogeyed the 15th hole after deciding to go for the green and coming up short.

“When I was out at Champions, it felt so easy to me. Everything just came to me. I was making putts. I was hitting greens,” said Zhang, whose father caddied for her all three rounds. “But when you’re out here (at Augusta National), one mistake, like I said before, is magnified.”

However, Zhang played even par the rest of way as Bae, playing one group ahead, went three-under in her final 10 holes.

Hitting wedge for her second shot on No. 17, Bae landed the ball about a foot from the pin.

“Next thing you know there’s just a bunch of roaring and (people) saying, ‘Go Dawgs,’” said Bae, who shot 70 in the final round. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt happier on a golf course in my life. … I’ve never heard such big yelling on a golf course. It just felt amazing.”

The tap-in birdie pulled Bae even with Zhang for the lead. Finishing at 9-under, they were tied for the 54-hole tournament record after Bae overcame a six-shot deficit in the final round.

The two players went to No. 18 for a sudden death playoff to decide the tournament. While Bae missed a birdie attempt, Zhang lagged her first putt and saved par to advance to No. 10 for the second playoff hole.

“I really felt like it was all or nothing, and I really just had to commit to my line,” Zhang said of her par-saving second putt. “I ended up going with a solid, straight putt, and it ended up going in with a little bit of speed.”

On the second playoff hole, both competitors hit the fairway with their drives. Bae pulled her second shot, however, and the ball ended up left of the green in pine straw underneath a tree. Her third shot skidded across the green into a bunker, giving an opening to Zhang.

Her first putt stopped inches from the flagstick, and she tapped in for par and the win.

“After that little putt went in, it was just a sense of relief,” said Zhang, who was met on the green by her Stanford teammates for a victory celebration.

Crazy, But Good

With the win, Zhang added the ANWA title to an impressive collection of amateur triumphs including the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the 2021 U.S. Girls Junior Championship and the 2022 individual and team NCAA Championship.

She credited her success to her consistency and her calm demeanor.

“I never really care about wins, but I do care about how I play and I care about the people around me. I think that really just trying to excel in my profession and trying to do the best I can is something that I cared a lot more about than just a simple win,” said Zhang, who nevertheless admitted she “greatly wanted to win this” tournament. “So it’s been crazy, but it’s been really good.”

By Betsy Gilliland