Stanford's undefeated team dominates the board at Augusta National Women's Amateur

USA Today

03-04-2025

Stanford's undefeated team dominates the board at Augusta National Women's Amateur
EVANS, Ga. — Megha Ganne is a champion sleeper. She took the popular Sleep and Dreams class at Stanford with many of her teammates but found that she couldn't really improve on her standard eight to nine hours.
'It's supposed to improve your sleep through the quarter,' said Ganne, 'but at the beginning mine couldn't get any better than it does.'
Ganne, in fact, was so relaxed before the start of the first round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur she actually took a nap on the bus en route to Champions Retreat, telling her caddie/assistant coach Brooke Riley it felt like she slept twice. Ganne went on to shoot a course-record 9-under 63 that day.
Freshman Meja Ortengren, who confesses she's not a good sleeper, also took the class and has incorporated some breathing exercises and meditation into her routine.
Former Stanford star Rose Zhang, winner of the 2023 ANWA, recently took Sleep and Dreams during her recent winter quarter and reported the professor gives bonus points for falling asleep in class.
'You get squirted by a squirt gun,' Zhang told the media earlier this season, 'and you have to stand up and you have to tell the whole class, 'Drowsiness is red alert.' It's our mantra.'
How might Ortengren sleep on the eve of playing Saturday's final round at Augusta National?
'Not great,' she predicted.
As if playing Augusta National isn't pressure-packed enough, the ANWA might be the only tournament in the world with a practice round in the middle of the event. Though the top 30 and ties qualify for the final round, everyone in the field gets to play Augusta National on Friday. That means those in contention must sleep on the pressure not one but two nights.
The Stanford women's team hasn't lost a tournament all season, and all six players on the Cardinal's current roster made the cut.
Defending champion Lottie Woad from FSU shares the lead at 9 under with Oregon's Kiara Romero. Ganne and teammate Andrea Revuelta are one back while Ortengren is two back at 7 under. Three more Stanford players made the weekend: Paula Martin Sampedro (3 under), Nora Sundberg (2 under) and Kelly Xu (1 under).
Head coach Anne Walker says it's success by committee in Palo Alto.
'I just I think it's enjoyable to see a team that doesn't look to one person, but rather looks to each other, 'said Walker, 'and I think that you watch them kind of all train and practice together, and the level of respect across the board is just really, really high.'
It's not just that they respect each other, however. They really enjoy one another, too.
'We honestly just sit around and talk to each other for hours,' said Ganne. 'We just enjoy each other's company, long conversations, long dinners … those are the best type of friends that you don't need anything to go do.'
Ganne, who followed that spectacular 63 with a gritty 73, is making her fifth ANWA appearance and will play alongside 16-year-old phenom Asterisk Talley in the final round, sandwiched in between two of her teammates.
In January, Spain's Revuelta felt her right shoulder pop out during a workout, and the Spaniard has been sidelined for most of the spring season, playing her first tournament of 2025 two weeks ago at the Silicon Valley Showcase. She still feels some pain from time to time but is mostly recovered.
She'll play alongside a fellow member of the Spanish national team, Carla Bernat Escuder, on Saturday. Revuelta describes the Kansas State player as a fierce competitor and beautiful putter. It's worth noting that Bernat Escuder's longtime coach in Spain is Victor Garcia, father of former Masters champion Sergio Garcia.
Ortengren, a freshman from Sweden, is a force of consistency on Stanford's team. Her five top-5 finishes this season include a runaway victory at the San Diego State Classic, where she shot 10-under 62. Walker describes her as a driven player who eats, sleeps and breathes golf.
Now making her fourth ANWA appearance, Ortengren first made the cut in 2022 but doesn't remember much about it.
'I think the whole round at Augusta is kind of a bit of a blackout for me right now because I was so stressed and so nervous,' she said of her even-par 72.
'But getting to play the practice round last year and not having a tournament round the day after was really like helpful to get to enjoy everything and take everything in.
'I remember the last couple of holes, just walking up the fairways and feeling the pressure of the crowd. The crowd was amazing.'
Some might call it a dream.