It didn't take long for the Augusta National Women's Amateur to claim the top spot in the minds of young women across the world. It is the invitation of the year in amateur golf, and winning it is nothing short of life-changing.
The sixth edition of the ANWA includes three past champions in the field of 72. Here's a look at the five different women who have won the event and where the game has taken them since:
Jennifer Kupcho
Jennifer Kupcho won the inaugural 2019 Augusta National Women's Amateur in riveting fashion against good friend Maria Fassi. The former Wake Forest star is now a three-time winner on the LPGA, including the 2022 Chevron Championship. Kupcho, 27, has won more than $5 million the LPGA and is currently ranked 47th in the world.
Tsubasa Kajitani
After the 2020 edition of the event was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Japan's Tsubasa Kajitani broke through the next year, defeating Emila Migliaccio in a playoff. The private Kajitani has been somewhat of a mystery of late. She played several events for a junior college in Florida, Seminole State, but then moved back to Japan, where she quit golf and started working for Callaway. Her last WAGR-ranked event was more than a year ago. She has since rededicated herself to the game, saying that she'd like to go to Japan LPGA qualifying school later this year.
Anna Davis
Anna Davis, the youngest player to ever win the ANWA, was only 16 when she burst onto the national scene wearing that memorable bucket hat. Now a sophomore at Auburn, Davis has won twice this season, breaking the Tigers' 54-hole scoring record in the fall with a 13-under par performance. Davis has missed the cut in her last two ANWA starts, receiving costly penalty strokes in 2023 (lift, clean and replace in the rough) and 2024 (bad time).
Rose Zhang
Zhang's 2023 ANWA victory completed the amateur grand slam, giving her the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur, ...
