BANDON, Ore. – If one needed any indication of what to expect from Thursday morning’s final match off at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, all that was needed was to watch the first hole.
On the third shot of Megha Ganne’s Round-of-32 match against fellow All-American and good pal Anna Davis, Ganne pulled 9-iron from 120 yards out at Bandon Dunes’ first hole, flighted it perfectly into the fan and watched as the ball disappeared into the hole for eagle.
Davis tried her best to match, wedging her approach to 6 inches, but the hole was Ganne’s.
“Kind of a crazy start,” Ganne said.
Ya think?
It wasn’t surprising considering the credentials of both players. Ganne, a rising senior at Stanford, is a two-time first-team All-American and ranked No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Davis, an Auburn junior with a pair of second-team honors under her belt, is No. 14 in the world. Both have starred on the biggest of stages, including in team competitions such as the Curtis Cup and Arnold Palmer Cup.
Despite their close relationship, this was Ganne and Davis’ first official matchup.
“We weren’t really looking forward to playing each other because we’re such great friends,” Ganne said, “but I thought it brought out a lot of great golf shots from both of us.”
Knowing the foundationally gifted Davis wouldn’t provide a ton of opening via mistakes, Ganne knew she had to be aggressive. The stars traded blows early as there wasn’t a tied hole until the sixth. Ganne, 1 down after three, stayed 1 up with a gritty up-and-down par save from the fescue at the par-4 fifth, where she rolled in a 20-footer.
Davis tied the match up with a birdie at the par-4 eighth, though Ganne bounced back by winning the next three holes, including the par-4 10th from 7 feet and the par-4 11th, where she chipped in for birdie.
Davis didn’t go away, eagling the par-13th to get a hole back. But ultimately, Ganne proved too much, and she ended her match nearly how she started it, scaring the hole from 50 yards out at the short, par-4 16th.
Five feet later, and Ganne was advancing to Thursday afternoon’s Round of 16, where she’ll face another talented opponent, world No. 20 Kary Hollenbaugh.
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