EVANS, Ga. — Arkansas State College junior Maria Jose Marin birdied her closing two holes for a 7-under 65 and shared the lead with 17-year-old Soo-min Oh of South Korea on Wednesday in a sunny and low-scoring opening spherical on the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Beginner Champions Retreat.
Asterisk Talley, a 17-year-old from California who was runner-up within the match final yr, hit a greenside bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 18th gap, turned and shot a 66.
Situations have been excellent and a lot of the 72-player subject took their possibilities. Eight gamers shot 67 or much less, and 31 gamers broke par.
Marin, a 19-year-old Colombian who received the NCAA title final yr, completed on the again and sank an 8-foot birdie putt, getting off to a significantly better begin than a yr in the past when he could not get via 36 holes.
Thursday’s second spherical will likely be held at Champions Retreat, with the highest 30 and ties advancing to Saturday’s closing spherical at Augusta Nationwide. All 72 gamers will play at residence for the Masters on Friday.
“It seems like final yr…I discovered rather a lot,” Marin stated. “I shed loads of tears. Clearly, this match meant rather a lot to me. It harm rather a lot to not play. However I discovered that you must preserve each toes on the bottom, you must be actually affected person together with your sport, you do not have to push your self if issues do not go your means, you simply have to attend for the golf to work out.”
The runner-up on the Ladies’s Beginner Asia Pacific earlier this yr additionally performed with no bogey. She was in entrance of the inexperienced on the par-5 ninth, dealing with a 70-foot eagle likelihood to take the lead. She received behind properly 4 toes past the cup and holed it to share the lead.
Andrea Revuelta and Vanessa Borovillos joined Talley on the age of 66. The 67-year-old group included Meja Oltengren and 17-year-old Floridian Amelie Salsman, who received the distinguished South Atlantic Ladies’s Beginner earlier this yr.
Revuelta and Ortengren have been amongst all 5 gamers from Stanford, and 4 of them broke par. The exception was U.S. Ladies’s Beginner champion Megha Ngannou, who had two double bogeys in her first 4 holes and collapsed to a 77.
This will likely be Ngannou’s sixth time competing within the ANWA, which is already as prestigious as an newbie occasion in girls’s golf, largely due to the place the ultimate spherical is performed.
Talley gained some nationwide recognition for the primary time in 2024, reaching the championship rounds in three USGA occasions, together with the U.S. Ladies’s Beginner and U.S. Ladies’s Junior. Talley began final week tied for twenty ninth on the LPGA Ford Championship.
The 31-year-old was ejected after hitting a bunker shot for eagle.
“Truthfully, I simply barely received it on the inexperienced and hit the ball all the best way to the flag,” Talley stated. “I knew it was going to be fairly quick. To be trustworthy, I used to be simply making an attempt to get inside 10 toes, nevertheless it ended up getting into, in order that was fairly cool.”
She needed to be content material with eight pars and one birdie to remain one spot away from the lead, however felt comfy having a assured tee time at Augusta Nationwide on Saturday.
“I did not make too many errors, however I did not do something superb on the again 9,” Talley stated. “I believe I largely simply hit the green and the inexperienced and didn’t get too near the opening.”
