Megha Ganne, field go low in opening round of Augusta National Women's Amateur

USA Today

02-04-2025

Megha Ganne, field go low in opening round of Augusta National Women's Amateur
EVANS, Ga. — It's one thing for one or two players to separate from the pack, but just about the entire 2025 Augusta National Women's Amateur field went low Wednesday.
None more so than Stanford junior Megha Ganne. The five-time ANWA starter shot an impressive 9-under 63, breaking the low mark held by former Cardinal teammate Rose Zhang (a first-round 66 in 2023).
The 21-year-old was asked whether she planned on reaching out to Zhang.
'I don't know if I will. I probably should now that you bring it up,' Ganne said, laughing. 'That's probably the first time I can say I've beaten her in something, so I will.'
She had a feeling she'd go low today and executed that vision to a tee. Starting on No. 10, Ganne went birdie-birdie-birdie through No. 11-13. She turned in 32 and added a birdie at No. 1, followed by an eagle on the par-5 third. Birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 led to a 31 on the back.
'I don't know. Sometimes you can think and talk things into existence,' she said. 'So I just kept telling myself the story I want to see today, tomorrow. So, yeah, visualizing is really helpful for me, and I try to do that.'
Ganne's teammate, Meja Ortengren, summed up the round in one sentence.
'I'm not like surprised, but still impressed," she said.
Were it not for Ganne's historic round, defending ANWA champ Lottie Woad would've been the talk of the day. The Florida State junior picked up where she left off a year ago, carding a 7-under 65. If someone would've told her that wouldn't have been the leader in the clubhouse, she – and many others – may not have believed them
'I saw the scoreboards during the round. So I knew I wasn't in the lead,' she said. 'I feel like before today I would have thought 7-under was a good score. I knew it was going to be soft and very scorable, but I didn't really see a 63.'
Those playable conditions were felt all throughout the leaderboard. All in all, 29 golfers in the 71-player field carded red numbers. There sits a three-way tied for third place at 5 under, including Kiara Romero (Oregon), Farah O'Keefe (Texas) and Amanda Sambach (Virginia).
The second round takes place Thursday with all eyes on Augusta National for the final round. The top 30 and ties after Thursday will qualify to Saturday, with the entire field teeing it up at Augusta for a Friday practice round.
Hurricane Helene affected the course in a positive way for some
The iconic Broccoli Tree on No. 4 of Arnold Palmer's Island Nine succumbed to last fall's Hurricane, but the reaction wasn't all doom and gloom. Its absense – and that of several others – took some of the pressure off and everyone took notice.
"I'm glad the Broccoli Tree is gone because I hit a 5-wood into 4 this morning, and I'm glad I didn't have to go over a massive tree," Georgia alum Caterina Don said.
'Yeah, holes 4 and 16 are very different. Those trees used to be in the way, so it's quite nice they're not there now,' Woad added. 'I mean, it makes the hole easier. I birdied 4 today. Because the drive used to be really difficult. You kind of had to hit it down the right, but now it's so wide. So it's definitely an easier hole.'
Ganne agreed, attributing the low scores throughout the round (at least partially) to the absence of a few trees.
'The two trees being gone, sad to see them go for the trees' sake, but for my sake, it definitely helped my round,' she said. 'It just opens the hole up way more. You can hit driver off those holes more comfortably. You have a shorter club in. Those trees would bat your ball down. I think the course is playing at least a stroke easier.'