EVANS, Ga. (AP) — Arkansas junior Maria Jose Marin birdied her final two holes Wednesday for a 7-under 65 to share the lead with 17-year-old Soomin Oh of South Korea in an opening round of great weather and low scoring at Champions Retreat in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Asterisk Talley, the 17-year-old Californian who was runner-up in the ANWA a year ago, holed a greenside bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 18th hole as she made the turn and shot 66.
The conditions were ideal, and most of the 72-player field seized on the opportunity. Eight players were at 67 or lower, and 31 players broke par.
Marin, the 19-year-old Colombian who won the NCAA title last year, finished on the back and poured in an 8-foot birdie putt to get off to a much better start than a year ago, when she failed to make the 36-hole cut.
The second round Thursday is at Champions Retreat, and the top 30 and ties advance to the final round Saturday at Augusta National. All 72 players get to play at the home of the Masters on Friday.
“I feel like last year … it was a lot of learning,” Marin said. “There was a lot of tears, and of course this tournament means a lot to me. Not making the cut, it hurt a lot. But I learned that I’ve got to stay with my two feet on the ground, that I have to be really patient with my game, that if things are not going my way, I don’t have to push it, that I just have to wait for golf to do its thing.”
Oh, the runner-up in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific earlier this year, also played bogey-free. She was on the front edge of the green on the par-5 ninth, facing a 70-foot eagle chance to take the lead. She did well to lag it 4 feet beyond the cup and holed that to share the lead.
Andrea Revuelta and Vanessa Borovilos joined Talley at 66. The group at 67 included Meja Örtengren and Amelie Zalsman, the 17-year-old Floridian who earlier this year won the prestigious South Atlantic Women’s Amateur.
Revuelta and Örtengren are among all five players from Stanford in the field, four of whom broke par. The exception was U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megha Ganne, who was stunned by two double bogeys in her opening four holes and crashed to a 77.
This is Ganne’s sixth time playing the ANWA, which already has become as prestigious as any amateur event in women’s golf, mainly because of where the final round is played.
Talley first rose to some level of national prominence in 2024 when she reached the championship match of three USGA events, including the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Girls Junior. Talley is coming off a tie for 29th last week in the Ford Championship on the LPGA.
Her bunker shot for eagle sent her out at 31.
“I was honestly just trying to barely get it on the green and let it roll out all the way to the flag,” Talley said. “I knew it was going to be pretty fast. I was honestly just trying to get it within 10 feet, and it ended up going in, so it was pretty cool.”
She had to settle for eight pars and a birdie on the front to finish one off the lead, though comfortable to make sure she has a tee time at Augusta National on Saturday.
“I wasn’t making many mistakes, but I wasn’t doing anything amazing on the back nine,” Talley said. “I think it was just pretty much just hitting fairways and greens and not getting very close to the hole at all times.”
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