The field for the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur is loaded | Golf News and Tour Information
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur will have the strongest field in its four-year history. World No. 1 Rose Zhang and 2022 champion Anna Davis are among the top 45 female amateurs to accept invites. Zhang, a sophomore from Stanford, will compete for the fourth time. She finished T-3 in 2021 and T-12 last year. Davis, 16, shot a 69 in the final in 2022 to win by one stroke. She is the first champion to attempt to defend her title.
The 70-player event will run from March 29 to April 1. The first two rounds will take place at Champions Retreat Golf Club. The entire field will play a practice round at Augusta National on Friday, March 31, before the best 30 and ties after 36 holes meet in the final round Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club. For the first time, Golf Channel will cover the first two rounds before NBC Sports resumes its usual coverage of the final round.
Besides Zhang and Davis, 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani will be back after not playing a year ago. World No. 2 Ingrid Lindblad, an LSU senior from Sweden, will play in her third ANWA after finishing T-2 last year. She shot a final round 68 but bogeyed the 18 to miss a playoff.
Lindblad’s LSU teammate Latanna Stone, also a senior, returns after shooting three straight 72s to rank second in 2022.
Other top Americans returning to play are Amari Avery, Jensen Castle, Megha Ganne, Rachel Heck and Rachel Kuehn, all members of the 2022 US Curtis Cup squad. Wake Forest fifth-year senior Emilia Migliaccio plays in her fourth ANWA. She finished second in 2021. Duke senior Erica Shepherd is also competing in her fourth event. A T-16 in 2021 is his best finish.
Jennifer Kupcho won the first ANWA in 2019 and won her first major LPGA Tour championship last year. ANWA 2020 has been canceled due to the pandemic. Japan’s Kajitani won in 2021 just eight days before Hideki Matsuyama became the first Japanese male golfer to win a major and the first player of Asian descent to win the Masters. Davis’ win last year at 16 made her the youngest winner in the championship’s brief history.