EVANS, Ga. — Rose Zhang said her father, Haibin, feverishly swept away the pine needles that were in the line of her 50-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole Wednesday at Champions Retreat.
“He was doing it like a maniac,” said Zhang, “and I was low-key kind of telling him to calm down in terms of trying to help me get the little stuff out of the way.”
Top-ranked Zhang drained the putt and later thanked dad for the assist. It was one of six birdies on the day for Zhang, who posted a record 6-under 66 at Champions Retreat, besting the previous record of 68 carded by 2019 champion Jennifer Kupcho and Zoe Campos in the opening round in the inaugural event. Zhang birdied all four par 5s and leads Ole Miss senior Andrea Lignell by one stroke.
“With the round being so soft and being muddy,” said Zhang, “I can’t really expect anything more out of my game today.”
ANWA: Photos
A dozen players broke par on a sun-splashed day in Evans, Georgia, where more than five inches of rain fell earlier in the week, forcing officials to put preferred lies into play. Unfortunately for 2022 champion Anna Davis, she was issued a four-stroke penalty after the round for twice picking up her ball in the rough on the first hole. The Model Local Rule stipulated that the ball could only be picked up in areas cut to fairway height or less.
Davis, who was informed of the potential penalty on the fourth tee, proceeded to double that hole and then made bogey on the fifth. She made four birdies coming in, however, to still give herself a shot at making the cut. The top 30 players and ties after 36 holes advance to the final round at Augusta National. Davis sits at 4-over 76, with her five on the opening hole changing to a nine after the round.
“I had a good round if you don’t count the first hole,” said Davis, who seemed to be in fine spirits after the round when talking to the media, all things considered.
The cut line right now falls at 2 over.
Sweden’s Lignell rode a hot putter to 67, crediting her fine play this college season to a “putting project” she put into place, concentrating on the greens for an hour or so each practice. She won her first two college titles last fall. Three weeks ago, she put a new putter in the bag, too.
“I expected to score maybe around par,” said Lignell, a biomedical engineering major. “It’s so much fun. It’s unbelievable.”
Zhang, 19, has won everything that matters in the amateur game except the ANWA. She joins Pat Hurst and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior and NCAA Championship.
Zhang, a winner of nine college events in two years at Stanford, said her father will be on the bag Thursday but that she might switch to an Augusta National caddie for the final round. When asked how dad has improved as a caddie over the years, Zhang said he’s definitely mellowed out and that she doesn’t have to guide him around like she once did.
“He’s still very much a very energy high kind of person,” she said, “and I think that matches really well with my nonchalant self when I’m on the golf course.”
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