Stone and Wallin hold 36-hole lead as Walsh misses ANWA cut
Lauren Walsh of Ireland plays her stroke from the No. 3 tee during the second round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Champions Retreat Golf Club, Thursday, March 31, 2022.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Two late bogeys proved costly for Castlewarden’s Lauren Walsh as she missed the cut by a shot in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat.
The Wake Forest star (21) was tied 26th on five-over, one-over for her round through 10 holes, when play was suspended overnight due to darkness at Champions Retreat and on track to make the top 30 who contest the final round at Augusta National on Saturday.
The second round was delayed by seven and a half hours due to inclement weather and while Walsh followed a bogey six at the third with a birdie at the fourth and a bogey at the seventh, she was well placed to make the top 30 who made the cut until she bogeyed the 15th and 16th on her return on Friday
She added a three-over 75 to her opening 76 to finish on seven-over 151, which left her one stroke outside a four-way playoff for the final spot in the third round draw, which went to Germany’s Paula Schulz-Hanssen on her 19th birthday on the fourth extra hole.
All 72 participants played a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday afternoon.
American Latanna Stone and Sweden’s Beatrice Wallin share the 36-hole lead on level par 144.
Augusta National writes:
Wallin held a share of the lead on Thursday evening as play was suspended due to darkness. The Florida State senior from Sweden finished her last two holes on Friday morning with pars for a second-round 71.
Wallin has now made the cut in all three of her appearances in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, finishing in the top 10 in both previous editions.
“I’m going to take it shot-by-shot and just enjoy it because it’s going to be my last time playing Augusta National and playing this event,” said Wallin, No. 6 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. “I’m going to go out there with a big smile and see what happens.”
Starting on No. 10, Stone was able to save par after her ball plugged in the bunker on No. 7. She joined Wallin at the top after a birdie on No. 8. The Louisiana State University junior finished both of her rounds at even-par 72 in her debut.
“I’ve just been trying to keep it simple – fairways, greens, two-putt and get off,” Stone said. “I’m not trying to do anything special. I know there’s not a lot of birdies out there, and I’m just trying to stay patient.”
Following delays due to inclement weather and suspension of the second round on Thursday evening, play resumed on Friday with 21 groups left to complete the second round.
Thursday night co-leader Amari Avery bogeyed her first hole on Friday morning. With a chance to rejoin the leaders, Avery missed a birdie putt on No. 18 to finish at one-over-par 145 in a tie for third place with Austria’s Emma Spitz and Denmark’s Amalie Leth-Nissen.
“Compared to last year, I think I played obviously much better,” said Avery, who lost in last year’s playoff at Champions Retreat. “I’m sitting comfortably so I can relax a little bit, head over to Augusta, do a practice round, and just get ready for tomorrow.”
First-round co-leaders Benedetta Moresco and Anna Davis, as well as Stanford senior Aline Krauter, sit tied for sixth at two-over-par 146.
Before play concluded at Champions Retreat, a playoff between four players knotted at six over par was needed to determine the 30th spot for Saturday’s final round at Augusta National Golf Club. Playoff competitors included Schulz-Hanssen, Arizona State senior Alexandra Forsterling, Vanderbilt senior Auston Kim and University of Virginia freshman Amanda Sambach.
All four players made par at the first playoff hole, the par-4 10th, to advance to the par-3 11th, before a Forsterling bogey at the 11th and a Kim bogey at the 17th left Sambach and Schulz-Hanssen remaining.
After both players laid up at the par-5 18th, Germany’s Schulz-Hanssen two-putted for par to claim the final spot.
“I'm so excited, and it's even my birthday,” said Schulz-Hanssen after the playoff. “So that's like a great present for myself. I'm very excited, and I'm very proud.”
Fighting to make the cut, top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang kept her composure and birdied her last three holes to move into a tie for ninth place. She is joined by Stanford teammates Krauter and Rachel Heck, the No. 3 player in WAGR. Avery Zweig, the youngest player in the field at 15 and a three-time Drive, Chip and Putt National Finalist, made the cut in her Augusta National Women’s Amateur debut at five over par.
The top-30 players will go on to play their final round on Saturday, April 2, which will be broadcast live on NBC from noon – 3 p.m. EDT.
