Admin April 1, 2024
The odds of winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur have always been tipped toward Americans. Among the qualifying classifications is that the top 30 U.S. players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings from the previous year get into the event, as well as those who receive special invites by the tournament’s committee.
In the previous four editions of the ANWA, the most Americans in the total field of 72 was 40 in 2021. This year, the number is equally divided at 36 players from the U.S. and 36 from the rest of the world, with international players coming from an impressive 17 different countries and six continents.
We say all this with a disclaimer: If the trend of American champs is to be bucked, this year’s ANWA seems ripe for it.
To wit: The world’s current best female amateur and the clear favorite is Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden. A fifth-year player at LSU, Lindblad, who recently won the Clemson Invitational by 10 shots, is making her fourth ANWA start and has two achingly close calls at Augusta National Golf Club. In ’22, she shot the best score (68) on Saturday at Augusta, but lost by one to Davis because of her second-round score 77 posted at Champions Retreat. In ’21, Lindblad was in a strong position after 36 holes, but stumbled with a 74 on Saturday and was in a big pack that missed the Kajitani-Migliaccio playoff by one shot.
Beyond Lindblad, five of the next six players in the WAGR who are entered in the ANWA are from outside the U.S. With Zhang having turned pro and already won on the LPGA since her ’23 ANWA victory, the current top-ranked American, at No. 7, is reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Meghan Schofill. Like Lindblad, Schofill, a fifth-year senior at Auburn, has plenty of ANWA experience with three previous appearances, but she didn’t make the cut until last year’s tie for 14th.
The other U.S. players in this year’s ANWA who are currently ranked in the WAGR top 25 are UCLA junior Zoe Campos (10); Virginia junior Amanda Sambach (12); Wake Forest grad student Rachel Kuehn (15); Davis (17), a freshman at Auburn; USC junior Amari Avery (20); and Oregon freshman and reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champ Kiara Romero (25).
With those dynamics in mind, here’s a look at some of the top contenders in the field of the 54-hole championship, listed based on their WAGR ranking. The first two rounds Wednesday and Thursday are at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga., after which the cut comes at the top 30 players and ties. All of the players get a practice round at Augusta National on Friday, followed by the final round on Saturday at the home of the Masters.
Age: 23 | Country: Sweden
World Amateur Golf Ranking: 1
Previous ANWA appearances: T-3 (2021), T-2 (2022), MC (2023)
Notable: Four-time first-team All-American from LSU heads into her fourth ANWA playing as well as any amateur in the world. She has seven top-five finishes this college season, including three wins that have run her career total 14.
Age: 21 | Country: Spain
WAGR: 2
Previous ANWA appearance: MC (2023)
Notable: Mississippi State junior is the reigning European Ladies’ Amateur champion and has six top-five college finishes this season, including two wins.
Age: 20 | Country: England
WAGR: 4
Previous ANWA appearances: 13th (2023)
Notable: The Florida State sophomore has a ton of international experience, including her victory in the R&A Girls’ Amateur at Carnoustie. She has six top-eight finishes for the Seminoles this season, including a win in the Annika Intercollegiate and two runners-up.
Age: 18 | Country: Germany
WAGR: 5
Previous ANWA appearance: MC (2023)
Notable: Briem’s impressive list of accomplishments includes winning the 2023 R&A Girls’ Amateur and this year’s Portuguese Women’s Amateur. In the Girls’ Amateur, she stormed to a record 12-and-10 win to become the first German champion in the event’s 104-year history.
Age: 18 | Country: Spain
WAGR: 6
Previous ANWA appearance: 4th (2023)
Notable: Texas A&M sophomore made five birdies, including three over the last four holes at Augusta National, to shoot 71 in the final round for a top-10 finish in 2023 ANWA debut. She was runner-up as an individual in the ’23 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship and has three top-15 college finishes this season.
Age: 24 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 7
Previous ANWA appearances: MC (2021), MC (2022), T-14 (2023)
Notable: Fifth-year player at Auburn won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club. She has four top-10 college finishes this season.
Age: 19 | Country: Sweden
WAGR: 9
Previous ANWA appearances: T-12 (2022), MC (2023)
Notable: The Stanford commit is second only to World No. 1 Ingrid Lindblad as her country’s top amateur. Has had a strong 2024 thus far, with a T-3 in the Portuguese Women’s Amateur and T-8 in the Girls’ Junior at Sage Valley. Won 2023 Esmond Trophy in France and reached the semifinals of the R&A Girls’ Amateur.
Age: 21 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 10
Previous ANWA appearances: T-5 (2019), MC (2021)
Notable: UCLA junior was a first-team All-American last season and has two victories this season. She was 16 when she made her ANWA debut, held the first-round lead and shot 72 in the final round for a T-5.
Age: 21 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 12
Previous appearances: MC (2021), MC (2022), T-14 (2023)
Notable: After missing the cut in her first two ANWAs, the Virginia junior got her first taste of Augusta National in ’23 and shot 74 in the final round to post a top-15. In the current college season, Sambach has four top-five finishes, including a win and two runners-up.
Age: 22 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 15
Previous appearances: MC (2021), 7th (2022), MC (2023)
Notable: In her first competitive round at Augusta National when she made the cut in ’22, the Wake Forest All-American birdied four of the first seven holes and shot 69. This college season, she has five top-12 finishes.
Age: 18 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 17
Previous ANWA appearances: 1st (2022), MC (2023)
Notable: At 16, the San Diego native stunned a contending group of collegians to win the 2022 ANWA with a final-round 69 at Augusta National. Now a freshman at Auburn, Davis missed the cut last year by two shots after suffering a four-stroke penalty in the first round when she mistakenly played two preferred lies from the rough on shots on the opening hole. She is the only past champion in the field.
Age: 20 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 20
Previous ANWA appearances: MC (2021), T-4 (2022), T-29 (2023)
Notable: USC junior contended into the last round in ’22. She has two college top-two finishes this season, including a win at Chambers Bay.
Age: 22 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 30
Previous ANWA appearances: T-2 (2022), 8th (2023)
Notable: Led in the final round of the ’22 ANWA before being overtaken by winner Anna Davis. Last summer, she lost in U.S Women’s Amateur final, and as a fifth-year senior at LSU, she has a win and six total top-20 finishes this season.
Age: 16 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 32
Previous ANWA appearance: T-14 (2023)
Notable: Floridian is the reigning Girls’ Junior PGA champion. Her impressive résumé includes winning the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with Amari Avery, reaching the semifinals of the ’23 U.S. Girls’ Junior and representing the U.S. in the Junior Solheim Cup and Junior Ryder Cup. Monday qualified for three straight LPGA events in 2022.
Age: 20 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 53
Previous ANWA appearances: MC (2021), MC (2022), T-9 (2023)
Notable: Stanford sophomore burst onto the national scene by contending into the weekend in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club. Ganne finished top-10 in the ANWA last year, and in this college season she has a victory in the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach and a runner-up in the East Lake Cup at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Age: 15 | Country: U.S.
WAGR: 221
Previous ANWA appearances: First
Notable: We had to include this first-time ANWA starter for her name alone. The California high-schooler’s mother says she was named Asterisk because it means “little star” in Greek. Fitting, then, that Talley should be a standout junior player, having won three World Amateur Golf Ranking events in 2023. This year, she notched a six-stroke win in the prestigious Girls’ Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.
