AUGUSTA, Ga.– Already the very best amateur in ladies’s golf, Rose Zhang collection another record Thursday to take a five-shot lead in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, leaving her one round away at the residence of the Masters from another large title.
Zhang opened up with a 6-under 66 at Champions Retreat to establish the event record. She went one reduced Thursday with a 7-under 65– regardless of making her only bogey of the event– as well as completed with a lengthy chip to 3 feet for birdie.
“This is not a course where I can see a bogey-free 66. And what did she shoot today, 65? That doesn’t even enter my brain,” claimed Megha Ganne, that has fun with Zhang at Stanford.
Zhang made it look that simple, despite having among the harder shots. She drew her drive on the par-5 9th right into the harsh, the sphere well over her feet. Instead of playing it secure, she struck 3-wood from 237 lawns as well as intended well right of the eco-friendly towards a television tower.
It rotated onto the eco-friendly to 30 feet, as well as she made the eagle putt.
“All I was thinking was don’t hook it so far it goes into the trees,” she claimed with a laugh. “I was also thinking of not topping it.”
She went to 13-under 131.
Andrea Lignell of Sweden, an elderly at Ole Miss, had a 69 as well as was 5 shots behind. Jenny Bae, a fifth-year elderly at Georgia, had a 68 as well as was another shot behind at 137.
No one else was within less than 10 shots of Zhang, a 19-year-old student at Stanford as well as the ruling NCAA champ.
Zhang has a method round Friday at Augusta National with the remainder of the 72-player area, and after that 31 gamers that made it at 2-over 146 will certainly play the last round at the residence of the Masters, which begins following week.
For many, an opportunity to dip into Augusta National is a reward. To complete there is also much better. This is behind the times forZhang She has actually made it to the last round of the ANWA all 4 years it has actually been played, beginning when she was 15 as well as in senior high school.
She shared the lead mosting likely to Augusta National 2 years back, just to take a three-way bogey on the par-5 13th to finish her opportunities. Now she leads by 5 as well as is playing her finest golf.
“From my past experience [with a big lead], it’s very important to know you have a whole field chasing you and anything can happen,” Zhang claimed. “Every hole, every score matters. I’m just going to play as hard as I can.”
The last round will certainly consist of another 15-year-old in Gianna Clemente, that played her very first united state Women’s Amateur at age 11 as well as in 2015 made it with Monday receiving 3 successive LPGA Tour occasions.
Clemente revealed her gutsThursday After opening up with a 74 that left her outside the cut, she fired 32 on her 2nd 9 for a 69. That consisted of a 50-foot birdie onNo 2.
She has actually feared of Zhang since they played a method round at a junior event. She claimed Zhang did a lot of the talking. “She asked a few questions and I probably stuttered a few things,” Clemente claimed.
Anna Davis, the safeguarding champ, never ever recouped from a four-shot fine she was analyzed on her opening hole Wednesday for training as well as cleansing her golf sphere when it had not been in the fairway. She had a 9 as well as fired 76. Davis had a set of bogeys on par fives as well as missed out on the cut by 2 shots.
Also making it were Amari Avery, theNo 9 gamer in the ladies’s amateur position, with birdies on her last 2 openings. The most not likely to breakthrough was Ting-Hsuan Huang ofTaiwan She opened up with a 79 as well as got better with a 66 to make it to the last round with 2 shots to save.
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