It’s time for one of the greatest amateur events in the world.
The sixth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins Wednesday at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Georgia, where 72 golfers will battle it out over 36 holes before a cut is made to the top 30 and ties. Every player in the field will then get to partake in a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday. Those who survived the cut will play the final round there on Saturday.
Forty-nine of the top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking are in the field, and plenty of them are peaking at the right time ahead. There are also three defending champions in the field, including 2024 winner Lottie Woad.
Here are 11 players to watch and the favorites for the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Players to watch, favorites at Augusta National Women’s Amateur
Anna Davis
Davis is one of three defending champions in the field, along with Tsubasa Kajitani and Lottie Woad. She has missed the cut in both of her starts since winning in 2022, but she comes into her fourth appearance off one of her biggest collegiate victories yet, winning the loaded Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Jasmine Koo
Koo, a freshman at USC, was the best player in college in the fall, winning three times. She has added one more this spring and is arguably the best American player in the ANWA field. Koo finished fourth last year, kicking off a stellar 2024 season that saw her make the U.S. Curtis Cup team. This is her second ANWA start.
Rianne Malixi
Malixi, who will begin her freshman season at Duke in the fall, broke out last summer, winning the U.S. Girls’ Junior and the U.S. Women’s Amateur only 22 days apart. This year, she had a third-place finish as the defending champion in the Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs. She missed the cut in her ANWA debut last year.
Maria Jose Marin
The sophomore at Arkansas had a stellar freshman season, then won medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Amateur before having to withdraw because of an injury in the semifinals. She recovered and has continued her strong play, winning twice this season in eight stroke play starts. She has made the cut in both ANWA appearances, her best finish being T-14 in 2023.
Paula Martin Sampedro
Martin Sampedro is making her second ANWA appearance on the heels of a T-24 in 2024. The sophomore at Stanford has two wins in six stroke-play starts this season and played a big role in helping the Cardinal win the 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. She is one of six current Stanford players in the field.
Catherine Park
The second USC star on the list, Park has a win and six top-10 finishes this season as a junior. She tied for 30th last year in her ANWA debut. Park is a two-time All-American at USC and is heading for her third straight AA honors. She shared low amateur honors last year at the U.S. Women’s Open with Asterisk Talley and Megan Schofill.
Kiara Romero
Another sophomore on this list (sense a them?), but Romero is putting together a wonderful season. She’s fifth in the NCAA golf rankings and her worst finish is T-16 in eight stroke-play starts, with three top 3s to her name. She missed the cut in her ANWA debut last year but could be a dark-horse pick to win this week.
Louise Rydqvist
One of the vets in the field, the 23-year-old from Sweden is making her second ANWA appearance (T-24 in 2024). She has been one of college golf’s best this season, with a win at the Darius Rucker this spring. Rydqvist has the skill and the professional event experience to not only contend but win.
Asterisk Talley
As a 15-year-old last year, Talley went on a run for the ages. She won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball. Then she finished runner-up at the U.S. GIrls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur. Three USGA championship matches in one year, the first to accomplish the feat. Then she was on the Curtis Cup team and beat top-ranked amateur Woad in singles. Oh, and she finished T-8 at last year’s ANWA. Talley is ready for her moment.
Mirabel Ting
A junior at Florida State, Ting has been the best player in college golf this season. In six stroke-play starts, she has five victories, the most in Division I. And as a reminder, she plays on the same team as the No. 1 female amateur in the world (more on her below). Ting finished T-8 in her debut last year and could well be the favorite to win.
Lottie Woad
The world’s No. 1 amateur is also the defending champion at Augusta National, birdieing three of her last four holes to top Bailey Shoemaker by a shot. In eight stroke-play starts as a junior at Florida State, Woad had lost to only 10 players and picked up two victories. Her worst finish is a tie for third. Her and Ting make a formidable duo.
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