Megha Ganne set the Augusta National Women’s Amateur record on Wednesday with a nine-under 63 at Champions Retreat, giving her a two-shot lead over defending champion Lottie Woad.
The scoring was lower than usual at Champions Retreat, where the opening two rounds are held before the top 30 who make the cut play the final round at Augusta National, which hosts the Masters next week.
Ganne took advantage with a bogey-free round. Playing early and starting on the back nine, the Stanford junior ran off three straight birdies early and saved par with an 18-foot putt on the fifth hole, her 14th of the day.
The only disappointment was a three-putt par on the par-five ninth hole.
“Believe it or not, I had a dream last night that I shot 61,” Ganne said on Golf Channel. “I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to set bad omens in the air.”
Ganne enjoyed four birdies on the back nine, missing out on one chance at the par-five 14th but making up for that with a 45-foot birdie putt on the 15th.
Kiara Romero, Farah O’Keefe and Amanda Sambach each shot 67.
They were among 29 players in the 71-player field who broke par. US Women’s Amateur champion Rianne Malixi was forced to withdraw because of a back injury.
Ganne is playing the ANWA for the fifth time, having advanced to the final round each of the last two years. She has been around long enough to realise there’s still a long road ahead.
“Enjoy today and take the rest of the week as it comes,” Ganne said. “But today was pretty special.”
Who will win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur? Watch throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Thursday from 6.30pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.
When is The Masters live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports Golf will be showing record hours of live coverage from the 2025 contest, where Scottie Scheffler returns as defending champion, including more action over the final two rounds than previous years.
Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm on Thursday, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.
The same timings will apply on Friday, while a new addition to this year’s coverage sees a Masters build-up show live from 3pm over the weekend ahead of full coverage starting at 5pm, covering all the action until after the close of play.
On Sky +, Sky Q and Sky Glass there will be lots of extra action via the red button on the Sky Sports Golf channel, providing plenty of bonus feeds and allowing you to follow players’ progress through various parts of Augusta’s famous layout.
