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Araki Draws World Number One for ANWA Opening Round

Augusta, Georgia, United States: Japan’s Yuna Araki has been drawn alongside world number one Ingrid Lindblad in the opening round of the fifth Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA).

Araki, currently eighth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), is among the leading Asia-Pacific hopes in the 54-hole event which tees-off at Champions Retreat tomorrow and reaches its climax at Augusta National on Saturday.

Winner of last year’s Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs, 18-year-old Araki is aiming to improve on her ANWA debut in 2023 when she tied for ninth.

If she’s to follow in the footsteps of 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani and become just the second Japanese to savour success in the ANWA, Araki will need to be at her very best.

The 72-player field features 46 of the top-50 in the WAGR with world number two Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain tipped with Swede Lindblad as one of the favourites.

There has been a significant contingent of international players in each year of the ANWA and the worldwide reach continues to spread.

Players from 35 different countries competed in the first four editions. In 2024, the field is equally split for the first time with 36 international players and 36 players from the United States.

Japan leads the 17 countries represented with nine players competing, including Kajitani, while Spain and Sweden will also have strong contingents with six players apiece.

In addition to Araki, there are no fewer than 10 other Asia-Pacific players who enter the event in the WAGR’s top-50 – Malaysian Mirabel Ting (16th), Rianne Malixi of the Philippines (26th), Thai Eila Galitsky (27th), Australian Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (28th) and the Japanese sextet of Kokoro Nakamura (21st), Hinano Muguruma (31st), Mamika Shinchi (41st), Saori Iijima (48th), Sayaka Teraoka (49th) and Suzuna Yokoyama (50th).

In the second group off from the first tee at 8.12 am on Wednesday, last year’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) winner Galitsky has been paired with Hinson-Tolchard and American Jensen Castle.

Chinese Taipei’s Wu Chun-wei, winner of the sixth edition of the WAAP in February, will set off from the 10th tee in the company of American Kelly Xu and Spaniard Carla Bernat Escuder.

Although the strong Asia-Pacific contingent also includes Indian Avani Prashanth (52nd in the WAGR), the Korean trio of Kim Min-sol (third), Oh Soo-min (18th) and Lee Hyo-song (29th) will be conspicuous by their absence.

Thai Eila Galitsky escapes a bunker during a practice round at Champions Retreat. Picture by Shanna Lockwood/Augusta National. 

The ANWA's first two rounds will take place on the Island and Bluff nines at Champions Retreat Golf Club (April 3-4) with a cut to 30 players and ties taking place after 36 holes.

The entire field will then play Augusta National for an official practice round on April 5. The final round, featuring competitors who made the cut, will take place on Saturday, April 6 at Augusta National.

The first and second rounds will be broadcast live on Golf Channel from Champions Retreat Golf Club. NBC Sports will produce and broadcast three hours of live final-round coverage of the event at Augusta National.

Additionally, Golf Channel’s ‘Live From the Masters’ will commence on April 5 to provide coverage of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals and the Masters Tournament.