EVANS, Ga. – Megha Ganne firmly believes in speaking things into existence.
In this case, it was dreaming.
As she slept the night before teeing off in her fifth Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at Champions Retreat, visions of 61 appeared in Ganne’s head.
“I didn’t tell anyone,” Ganne said. “I didn’t want to set bad omens in the air.”
Ganne didn’t shoot 61, but she came close. The Stanford junior fired a 9-under 63 to smash the 18-hole scoring record at Champions Retreat, which annually hosts the first two rounds of this tournament, and take a two-shot lead over defending champion Lottie Woad, the Florida State junior who shot 65, which would’ve tied the previous low mark set by Rose Zhang, who posted her 65 in the second round of her 2023 victory.
“That’s probably the first time I can say I’ve beaten her in something,” Ganne said of Zhang.
Ganne’s record round – also the best of her career – included seven birdies and an eagle at the par-4 third. She poured in a 23-footer to save par at the par-3 sixth and later three-putted her last hole, the par-5 ninth, for par to miss out on reaching double-digits under par on a historically low scoring day at Champions Retreat. With benign conditions and greens softened by recent rain, the 71-player field averaged 72.27, which set a new tournament low, 0.33 shots less than last year’s first round.
Twenty-nine players are under par, including Oregon’s Kiara Romero, Texas’ Farah O’Keefe and Virginia’s Amanda Sambach, who all are tied for third at 5 under.
“Before today I would have thought 7 under was a good score,” Woad said. “I knew it was going to be soft and very scorable, but I didn’t really see a 63.”
“Consistently, she’s a really good ball-striker; that’s one of her strengths,” added Stanford assistant Brooke Riley, Ganne’s caddie this week. “But today was one of those exceptional days where she just couldn’t miss it. She hit so many goods shots. She’d pick a line, and it’d stay on the line.”
Ganne had never broken 70 in eight previous rounds at Champions Retreat. She carded a second-round 80 in each of her first two ANWA appearances, both missed cuts. She finally made it to Saturday at Augusta National two years ago, tying for ninth, and was T-20 last year after an opening 70.
Shortly after last year’s ANWA, Ganne’s back and left hip flared up. Once she got through Stanford’s NCAA title run and another U.S. Women’s Open, where Ganne missed the cut by a shot, Ganne shut it down. She instead did everything but golf, including a trip to Madrid with her Spanish teammate Paula Martin Sampedro.
“It was actually a really fun reset and a fun summer, so I’m not too bummed about it,” Ganne said.
Ganne also missed Stanford’s first two fall tournaments, the Molly Intercollegiate and the NB3 Match Play, before returning for Stanford’s home event. Ganne has ramped up her training post-injuries to add strength and pliability, especially in her weak hip, and it’s been an unintended boon to her swing. Ganne’s recent T-11 at the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate at Colonial is her worst finish this season as she’s won once (Nanea Invitational in Hawaii) and posted three other top-7 finishes, including a T-3 at Stanford.
“Definitely feel like I’m clearing through the ball better,” Ganne said.
EVANS, GEORGIA – APRIL 02: Megha Ganne of the United States looks on from the ninth fairway during round one of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Champions Retreat Golf Course on April 02, 2025 in Evans, Georgia. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
With Rianna Malixi’s withdrawal on Tuesday, Ganne and Texas A&M’s Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio played as a twosome on Wednesday, so there was plenty of time for stretching between shots – and conversation.
Ganne is naturally antsy, and on Wednesday she often found herself sitting on the turf, waiting for the threesome ahead to clear.
“It’s hard to be in a flow and feel like you hit a wall every shot,” she said.
So, Riley did everything she could to keep Ganne’s mind occupied. At one point, Riley mentioned to Ganne a game she had recently played with some friends, where two people shout out random words until they say the same one. Riley needed just two tries until she and a friend both said, “Fermentation!”
“If we were going to be waiting much longer, we were about to play it,” Riley said with a laugh.
Where the game is played usually influences what words are used. Ganne is hoping that Saturday evening at Augusta National, on her fifth try, everybody is shouting, “Champion!”
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