Strong Finishes for Asian Trio as Zhang Prevails in Play-Off

Augusta, Georgia, United States: Japan’s Saki Baba, Korean Lim Ji-yoo and Chinese Taipei’s Lu Hsin-yu finished as the leading Asia-Pacific contenders in the fourth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) championship.

While Baba, the reigning US Women’s Amateur champion, posted a joint best-of-the-day two-under 70 in the closing round at Augusta National, Lim carded a 72 and Lu signed for a 73.

That meant the trio finished in a share of fifth place on two-under 214 in the event which began with two rounds at Champions Retreat and saw only seven players end in red figures.

In a thrilling finale, 19-year-old Stanford University sophomore Rose Zhang defeated Jenny Bae on the second hole of a sudden-death play-off to capture her maiden ANWA championship and underline her standing as the top-rated player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

With the win, Zhang joins Tiger Woods as the only golfer to win the US Junior Amateur, US Amateur, NCAA individual title and win at Augusta National Golf Club.

Going into the final round, Zhang held a five-stroke lead from Sweden's Andrea Lignell with the University of Georgia's Jenny Bae a further stroke back in third.

But while Zhang shot a 76, Bae matched Baba’s 70. Having ended tied at the top of the leaderboard on nine-under 207, Zhang and Bae both made fours at the 18th, the first play-off hole.

At the second extra hole, the par-four 10th, it was Zhang who prevailed, a rock-solid two-putt par too good for Bae, who wasn’t able to recover after pulling her second shot into trouble.

Third place went to Lignell (74) on 210 with Spaniard Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio fourth on 213.

Of the other Asia-Pacific representatives who made the cut, Yuna Araki ended joint ninth (217), followed by fellow-Japanese Hinano Muguruma and Chinese Taipei’s Tiffany Huang Ting-hsuan in a share of 22nd spot on 221.

After the highs of her second round when she made a hole-in-one, Korean Park Bo-hyun failed to make a single birdie at Augusta National, signing off with an 82 to end 31st on 225.