Gianna Clemente, 15, has a chance to become the third straight teenager to win the ANWA. Dylan Buell

A year ago at this time, the official website for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur picked 10 ‘Players to Watch’ for the 2022 championship. The list included most of the top-ranked entrants at the time, including Rose Zhang, Amari Avery and Ingrid Lindblad.

A golfer not included: Anna Davis. It was completely understandable, because, at 16 years old, she was one of the youngest players in the field and making her ANWA debut. There was no reason to favour the schoolkid among a bunch of college stars.

But we know what happened. Davis stunned them all with a final-round three-under-par 69 at Augusta National. It just goes to show that we can identify the favourites all we want for this week’s fourth ANWA, but among these talented young players, anybody in the 72-woman field seemingly has a chance to lift the trophy in the 54-hole event that will be contested on Wednesday and Thursday at Champions Retreat, with the final round on Saturday at Augusta National.

Indeed, if we’re looking for trends, relatively unknown teenagers have won the last two titles, following the inaugural 2019 victory by Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, who was 21 at the time and turned pro that summer (and now is a major champion after winning last year’s Chevron Championship).

Zhang, Avery and Lindblad all return to the ANWA, and for the first time in the tournament’s brief history, it will have a past champion trying to repeat. In fact, there are two this week: Davis and Japan’s Tsubasa Kajitani, who curiously skipped her defence last year.

So, here are 12 players to watch, with no guarantees that any of them will win.

Anna Davis

At 16, Anna Davis was the youngest winner of the ANWA in its third year of being played. David Cannon

The California native was ranked 100th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking when she shot a final-round 69 to be the youngest player so far to win the ANWA. Now the 17-year-old is No. 8 in the amateur world, mostly on the strength of competing in seven LPGA events after her victory and making the cut in five of them. Davis has two impressive wins in 2023, at the Junior Orange Bowl International and Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.

Ingrid Lindblad

Ingrid Lindblad. Harriet Lander/R&A

In terms of past ANWA results, the 22-year-old Swede who plays at LSU should be the favourite. She tied for third in 2021 and second last year. It’s hard to fathom that the current WAGR No. 2 didn’t prevail last time out, considering Lindblad made eagles at 8 and 15 and birdies at 3, 7 and 14. But she bogeyed the final hole to lose by one. This, after missing the ’21 ANWA playoff by one stroke. The résumé is all there, including being the low amateur at last year’s US Women’s Open with a T-11.

Rose Zhang

Rose Zhang is trying to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in her fourth appearance. David Cannon

On paper, the 19-year-old sophomore at Stanford is the clear favourite. She is the hottest player in the college golf, with five victories in her first six starts this season, and Zhang made the cut in three LPGA majors last year. She also just broke Lydia Ko’s record for consecutive weeks (131) as the WAGR No. 1. But the ANWA has remained elusive, with Zhang’s best finish in three starts being a T-3 in the ’21 edition.

Amari Avery

Amari Avery tied for fourth in the ANWA last year. David Cannon

A 19-year-old sophomore at USC making her third ANWA start, Avery tied for fourth last year with a closing 72. She is also having a strong college season, with six top-15 finishes in her eight starts, including one win and a T-3 in the recent Juli Inkster Meadow Club Collegiate.

Saki Baba

The 17-year-old from Tokyo was mostly unknown to the golf world until her dominating victory in the 2022 US Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, when she crushed Canada’s Monet Chun, 11 and 9, in the final. It was the third-largest winning margin in the championship’s history, and the event’s first victory by a Japanese player in 37 years. Baba won two big amateur titles in Asia last year, and in February she finished T-34 in the Honda LPGA Thailand, in which she was grouped in the final round with major champions Hinako Shibuno and Yuka Saso.

Gianna Clemente

Gianna Clemente. Gregory Shamus

This stage would seem enormous for a 15-year-old, but Clemente has proven to be talented beyond her years after local qualifying for three consecutive LPGA events last year while she was 14. That success came along with a runner-up in the 2022 US Girls’ Junior and three wins in WAGR events. Clemente also has some experience at Augusta National, having been a Drive, Chip & Putt National finalist in 2017.

Tsubasa Kajitani

Tsubasa Kajitani. Jared C Tilton

She is the mystery woman of the ANWA. In 2021, the then 17-year-old Japanese golfer was a relative unknown when she shot 72 in the final round and beat Emilia Migliaccio in a playoff. But for reasons that have never been clear, Kajitani didn’t return to defend her title in 2022, and she has played so sparingly that her WAGR ranking has dropped from fifth after her ANWA win to 163rd. The last event in which she earned WAGR points was last August’s US. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, where Kajitani reached the match play and lost in the first round.

Jensen Castle

The 2021 US Women’s Amateur champion, who finished T-12 in last year’s ANWA, had a busy 2022 summer that included playing on the winning US Curtis Cup team while also making starts in two professional majors, the US Women’s Open and Evian Championship. Jensen, 22, has six top-15 finishes in seven starts for Kentucky this season.

Megha Ganne

Megha Ganne. David Cannon

A freshman at Stanford, the 19-year-old’s most notable time on the national stage came when she was the low amateur at the 2021 US Women’s Open at the Olympic Club, tying for 14th after playing in the final threesome on Sunday. She played on last summer’s US Curtis Cup team and has four top-10s this season for the Cardinal, including a runner-up in the Carmel Cup in her college debut. A four-time DCP finalist, Ganne missed the cut in her first two ANWA starts.

Latanna Stone

Latanna Stone returns to the ANWA after a late collapse last year. Gregory Shamus

With a birdie on the 16th hole at Augusta National last year, Stone had the clearest path to win the ANWA; she had a two-shot advantage over clubhouse leader Anna Davis with two holes to play. But she double bogeyed the 17th and bogeyed the 18th to tie LSU teammate Ingrid Lindblad for second. Stone, 21, notched her first collegiate win in February.

Rachel Kuehn

Rachel Kuehn. Matthew Lewis/R&A

Considering what Kuehn, 21, did in last year’s ANWA final round, the Wake Forest senior is likely to be a title contender if she gets in position after Champions Retreat. Kuehn birdied four of the first seven holes and shot three-under 69 to finish solo seventh. As a possible omen, the WAGR’s No. 4 player won the Augusta Invitational earlier this month.

Emilia Migliaccio

Emilia Migliaccio. Kevin C Cox

The 23-year-old from North Carolina is an interesting study. After she lost in the ’21 ANWA playoff, she seemingly headed off to a career in journalism. But Migliaccio worked for a time, took a year off and returned to Wake Forest for a fifth season after capturing the North & South last summer and playing for the US Curtis Cup team. She is looking for a rebound of sorts in the ANWA after missing the cut last year.

The post Looking for favourites at the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur? We’ve got 12 of them appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Know this first about teenager Anna Davis when she talks about what seemed like an out-of-nowhere victory in last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Before her win, the San Diego native had little knowledge of Masters history or the revered challenges and subtleties of Augusta National Golf Club. Her dad has said her only exposure to the Masters was watching the final hole of Tiger Woods’ triumph in 2019.

That naivety probably played a role in the 16-year-old high school sophomore shooting a three-under 69 in the final round to beat a field loaded with college stars. She was not overtaken with awe making her way through Amen Corner or getting all caught up in memories of the greats chugging their way up the 18th hole.

Funnily enough, it seems like Augusta National remains in Davis’ mind as simply a very nice place to play golf. Nothing more, nothing less.

Talking about the defence of her ANWA title in the 54-hole tournament that will be played March 29-30 at Champions Retreat and April 1 at Augusta, Davis said she hasn’t returned to Augusta National since her winning round a year ago, though she would have certainly had opportunities to do something most golfers would drool over.

“I hadn’t really had the time,” she said. “It’s kind of hard. I do live in California. That’s a little difficult to make a trip to Georgia. It didn’t fit into the schedule. This is the week I would have gone, and I didn’t make time for it.”

Don’t feel sorry for her. Davis, 17, was speaking from one of the plush cabins on the grounds at Champions Retreat, where she is practising at what is arguably the ANWA’s more important venue, considering the first two rounds are played there. Those are the perks of being the champion, and she is the first of three ANWA winners to come back to defend.

Davis is certainly not one to cling to conventions, or even risk ruffling a few feathers of those who wear the green jackets. In the most comical bit of her media chat, she was asked if she had a favourite treat at Augusta, since there are so many to choose from. Davis struggled to come up with an answer and then said: “I know the pimento cheese thing is like a really big thing, but I just can’t get over how gross it is.”

You can have your trophy taken away for such blasphemy.

Teenager Anna Davis will be the first Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion to attempt to defend her title. David Cannon

On another light subject, there is the bucket hat Davis wore for the final round last year. Her look became something of a sensation, stirring debates about the style’s merits while making Davis instantly recognisable during the LPGA events she played last summer. “The fuss over the bucket hat was pretty funny for a little while,” Davis said.
Emphasis on little, because she hasn’t sought to be known as “the girl in the bucket hat” and doesn’t embrace it as her signature. Ask her parents. Davis has an independent streak and said on Tuesday that it will be a game-time decision on going with the bucket during the ANWA.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Davis said coyly. “It kind of depends on my mood and also depends on the weather.”

More seriously, Davis will go into ANWA coming off a significant wire-to-wire victory in last week’s prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. Currently ranked ninth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, she also won the Junior Orange Bowl International in January and has two other top-10 finishes since playing last year in seven LPGA events after her ANWA win, and making the cut in four of them.

After getting a taste of the LPGA life, Davis had a decision to make about her future: turn pro or go to college. And she admits that she felt impatient about making the call. Ultimately, she chose school and Auburn, where her twin brother, Billy, a decorated junior golfer in his own right, will also play on scholarship for the men’s team.
“At the end of the day I kind of decided I needed more experience in different situations, in different pressure situations,” Davis said. “And to have a life for a few years in college. At the end of the day, that’s just kind of my main deciding point.”

She raved about her recruiting trip to Auburn, the small-town feel and the coaching staff. “After my visit, I just didn’t want to leave,” she said with a laugh.

Of course, until then she has another year of high school after this one, and now seemingly more many opportunities to play Augusta National. And even with her quirky nonchalance, she does appreciate the place.

“Obviously, you hear things about Augusta and people say it’s perfect in every way,” Davis said. “And when I went there, it exceeded every expectation I had. It’s beautiful, and there’s not a single blade of grass out of place there.”

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By Jay Coffin
Anna Davis will be taking her trademark bucket hat to the LPGA.

The surprise 16-year-old winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur was given a sponsor’s exemption into the inaugural Palos Verdes Championship presented by Bank of America in California, Davis’ home state.

The event is April 28-May 1 at Palos Verdes Golf Clubs. This will be the LPGA debut for the high school student from Spring Valley.

Davis trailed by two shots heading into the final round at Augusta National but made birdies on Nos. 9, 12 and 13 before closing with a three-under 69 to win by one shot over Ingrid Lindblad and Latanna Stone. She was the only player to finish the 54-hole championship under par, and the victory vaulted her to No. 47 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Before the ANWA victory, Davis won twice last year, including a seven-stroke victory at the Girls Junior PGA. She was a member of the 2021 US Junior Solheim Cup team and is an AJGA All-American.

The other sponsor exemption for the Palos Verdes Championship is Wake Forest junior Rachel Kuehn, winner of the 2022 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge last month at Palos Verdes Golf Club.

Nine of the top 10 players in the world are scheduled to play in the event.

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