AJGA alumna and the No. 1 female golfer in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Rose Zhang, chased down an exciting win at the 2023 Augusta National Women's Amateur. The first two rounds are hosted at Champions Retreat Golf Club, and the final round is hosted at Augusta National Golf Club. Zhang has earned an invite each year to the tournament since its inaugural event in 2019.
Zhang, a sophomore at Stanford University, previously had her best finish at ANWA in 2021, where she tied for third. In her other two appearances, she made the cut both times, but her best finish was T-12 in 2022. This year, Zhang opened the first round at Champions Retreat with a record-breaking 6-under-par 66. She had a clean scorecard that contained six birdies. A day later, Zhang beat her own 18-hole scoring record at ANWA with a 7-under-par 65. Her second round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 No. 9. Zhang entered the final round with a five-stroke lead at 13-under-par 131. In second place, behind Zhang, was Ole Miss standout, Andrea Lignell.
Zhang struggled on the opening hole, making a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 1. She bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 No. 2. After a par on the par-4 No. 3, Zhang continued to make three bogeys on Nos. 4, 5 and 7. She then made her final birdie of the event on the par-5 No. 13, but made another bogey on the par-5 No. 15. Zhang made three pars to finish out the round with a 4-over-par 76 and a tournament total of 9-under-par 207. While Zhang was struggling during the final round, AJGA alumna, Jenny Bae, found herself at the top of the leaderboard after a round of 2-under-par 70. Bae began the day in third place, and made four birdies during the final round to extend the tournament. In her previous appearance at the 2022 ANWA, Bae did not make the cut to play the final round at Augusta.
Bae and Zhang met on the par-4 No. 18 for the playoff. Both players safely made par, and the playoff proceeded to the par-4 No. 10. Both players hit perfect drives down the fairway, but Bae missed the fairway on her second shot, leaving the window open for Zhang. She took advantage of the opportunity, and made a par to secure her first win at the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
Zhang had a standout junior golf career at the AJGA. She was a two-time Rolex Junior Player of the year, five-time First Team Rolex Junior All-American (2016-2020) and stayed at the top of the Rolex AJGA Rankings for more than 100 weeks. She has won 10 AJGA events, eight of which are Invitational titles.