College golf's No. 1 player among those to miss cut at Augusta National Women's Amateur

USA Today

03-04-2025

College golf's No. 1 player among those to miss cut at Augusta National Women's Amateur
EVANS, Ga. — Florida State coach Amy Bond had never seen Mirabel Ting have a two-way miss until the first round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Ting, one of the best ball-strikers in the country and the hottest player in college golf, didn't have a clue what was going wrong in her opening 76.
'Yesterday I just wasn't able to accept what happened with my irons, and I keep asking myself why, why, why. Why do I have these kind of shots? And why and why. The more whys I have, the worse it gets,' she said.
'I just tried to play with what I have today, and it was exactly the same. Nothing really changed, but I just stopped asking myself why.'
The relief of Ting's second-round 4-under 68 was written on her face. It wasn't enough to make the cut at Champions Retreat, but college golf's No. 1 player could leave feeling good about the effort.
'We just have to focus on what's in front of me,' said Ting, who finished at even par for the tournament to miss the cut by one. 'Hopefully, me and my team will get a ring on our fingers at the end of the season, yeah.'
Thirty-two players made the cut at Champions Retreat, which fell at 1 under. Those 32 will tee it up in the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur on Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club. The entire field will play a practice round at the iconic venue Friday.
Ting finished in the top 10 at last year's ANWA and wanted to get into the top 5 this year. Her teammate, Lottie Woad, won the title last year and goes into the final round in a share of the lead at 9 under with Oregon's Kiara Romero.
'Especially looking back at my season, I have 5 out of the 6 wins,' said Ting. 'I came into this tournament with a lot of expectations. I think that is one of the biggest mistakes I've made. I shouldn't have put so much pressure on myself and expect so much in this event.'
USC's Bailey Shoemaker, who shot 66 in the final round of last year's ANWA to finish second to Woad, missed the cut this week after two consecutive rounds of 74.
Rachel Heck, the former Stanford star who hadn't played in a tournament since she led the Cardinal to a national title last May, will head back to her day job in private equity and her role as a public affairs officer in the Air Force Reserve after rounds of 75-73.
Former ANWA champion Tsubasa Kajitani, who briefly gave up the game and moved back to Japan to take a job with Callaway, shot 80-85 to finish last. Kajitani plans to head to Japan LPGA Q-School later this year.