Rose Zhang set the new tournament low, shooting a 66 at Champions Retreat Wednesday. Thursday, she beat that new record by shooting a 65.
Zhang, scored six birdies and her only bogey of the two days of play on Thursday, leaving her 13 under par headed into round three.
“I think it shows my game’s in a pretty consistent, good direction,” Zhang said after her record setting round on Wednesday. “Hopefully I can continue like that the next couple days.”
An eagle for the leader 🦅
Rose Zhang’s 31 is a record low first nine at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.#ANWAgolf pic.twitter.com/8SmunkLYvH
— Augusta National Women’s Amateur (@anwagolf) March 30, 2023
Her commanding lead is going to be very difficult for any of the other player to overcome.
Hot on her heels is Andrea Lignell who shot a bogey-free 67 Wednesday and a 69 Thursday with two bogeys and five pars. Lignell will start five strokes from the lead being Zhang.
At the Augusta National, experience counts, and Zhang has made the cut and played the course the last three years. This year will be Lignell’s first time playing the course, putting her at a significant disadvantage to Zhang.
Lignell is now one of three to score a 67 score in tournament history.
“I definitely didn’t see myself starting things off with a 67,” Lignell said. “Yesterday was my first time being able to play this course, so I was anticipating maybe a score around par to start things off.
“Today was honestly just so much fun. It was really just unbelievable. The putter was definitely hot today, and it hasn’t been this hot in a long time.”
Park hit an 8-iron roughly 144 yards on the par-3 number 8.
“That was really unexpected, out of blue hole in one. I was just glad that I got on the green,” Park said. “I had my last ace during a Stanford intercollegiate, and that was my fourth or fifth, so this will be my fifth or sixth,” she said when asked how many aces she has shot.
Park, made the cut for Saturday with a total score of one under par after the hole-in-one on the par-3 No.8 and subsequent birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.
Defending champion Anna Davis ended the day four over par missing the cut. Davis suffered a major setback Wednesday after she was penalized two strikes on hole Nos. 1 and 2 for picking up her ball and cleaning the mud off while in the rough. Those four strokes cost her making the cutoff for Saturday.
