Carla Bernat Escuder shot 4-under 68 Saturday at Augusta National Golf Club to win the sixth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Needing to two-putt from the back of the green at the par-4 18th, Bernat Escuder — like Spaniards Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm before her — handled the moment and converted the save.
Bernat Escuder finished at 12 under par, one stroke clear of 16-year-old Asterisk Talley, who also fired 68. Defending champion Lottie Woad (72) finished solo third.
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Beginning the final round one back of Woad and Kiara Romero (74, T-7), Bernat Escuder grabbed the outright advantage when she birdied the par-5 eighth.
The Kansas State senior then spun her approach shot to tap-in range at the par-4 ninth to turn in 33 and lead by two at 11 under.
She never trailed nor was matched on the second nine.
With her ball on the side-slope of the 13th fairway, Bernat Escuder hit a fairway metal on the green and two-putted for birdie to move three clear of the field.
While the Spaniard was in stride, Woad was out of sync for the better part of the day. Last year’s champ led by two shots early on the first nine but, as on-course reporter Jim “Bones” Mackay, who helped shepherd Phil Mickelson to three green jackets, said at the par-4 10th, Woad “broke one of the Ten Commandments at Augusta National,” when her approach shot bounded over the green.
From under a bush, Woad opted to take a penalty drop and made double bogey, falling three back.
A year ago, Woad birdied three of her final four holes en route to a one-shot victory. Needing a similar run to repeat, she birdied the 13th and hit her approach shot to inches on the par-4 14th, offering a wry smile, knowing she didn’t strike the ball her best.
The deficit was two, but short-lived as Bernat Escuder birdied the par-5 15th in the group ahead.
Woad was unable to match that birdie at 15, again leaving her putt just shy of the hole. Any chance of a second victory ended with bogey at No. 16.
Talley, meanwhile, earned another runner-up in a major amateur event, as she lost in the finals of last year’s U.S. Girls’ Junior and the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
This, though, was hardly a defeat. The California teen immediately tied for the lead Saturday by holing her second shot for eagle at the par-4 first.
She then followed back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 with consecutive birdies at Nos. 7 and 8.
After seven consecutive pars, Talley birdied the par-3 16th and then made an incredible ‘3′ at the 17th, hitting her approach shot from the trees and making the 20-footer for birdie. She parred the 18th — after hitting her 17th green of the round — to post 68, and was only one back when she signed her card as Bernat Escuder bogeyed the 17th.
No playoff was needed, however, as Bernat Escuder executed perfectly at the last.
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