Apr. 2—EVANS — Megha Ganne believes in visualizing her goals and trying to speak them into existence.
She arrived at Champions Retreat Golf Club for this week's Augusta National Women's Amateur and kept telling herself the story she wanted to see, first in Wednesday's opening round and then Thursday for round two.
She had a low number and a strong start in mind, but even she couldn't have foreseen this — a new tournament record 9-under 63, leaving the Stanford junior alone atop the leaderboard to begin her fifth ANWA appearance.
"I think it was just a really good day," she said shortly after blistering a rain-battered Champions Retreat. "Great timing to have — this is my career low in a golf tournament, so I had a feeling I was going to go low today but not this low. So I'm just trying to enjoy it."
There was plenty to enjoy for Ganne, the 12th-ranked amateur in the world, on the golf course during a round that included seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 third hole. She rolled in a couple of long putts, like a par-saving bomb on on the par-5 14th hole, but for the most part her birdie looks were inside of 20 feet.
Her name doesn't just sit alone atop the leaderboard on day one — it's now atop the tournament scoring records. Her 63 is the lowest in ANWA history, two better than former Stanford teammate Rose Zhang's previous record of 65 and three better than the first-round scoring record of 66, also set by Zhang en route to victory in 2023.
Taking any record from Zhang, who had one of the most decorated careers in amateur golf history, is worth celebrating, and perhaps even worthy of a text message to let her know she's been one-upped.
"I don't know if I will. I probably should now that you bring it up," Ganne said with a laugh. "That's probably the first time I can say I've beaten her in something, so I will."
Rain earlier in the week softened Champions Retreat, dulling the bite that often left players happy to sign for something in the neighborhood of even-par. Ganne's previous low score here was 70, and her scoring average through eight rounds at Champions Retreat had been 74.63.
Wednesday the flags were more approachable, which gave the field more opportunities to go pin-seeking, and the loss of some trees due to Hurricane Helene opened up alleys the players previously couldn't traverse.
The only drawback for Ganne was pace of play, with the round stretching past five hours and feeling even longer because she and Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio were playing as a twosome following Rianne Malixi's late withdrawal due to injury.
"That was hard. You can ask my assistant coach (Brooke Riley), who was caddying. I was pretty antsy my entire back nine," Ganne said. "It's hard to be in a flow and feel, like you hit a wall every shot. I just tried to stay loose, stay chatting, and talk through it."
It clearly worked. She heads into Thursday two shots ahead of defending champion and top-ranked Lottie Woad, the Florida State junior who made eight birdies of her own in a round of 65. Oregon's Kiara Romero, Texas' Farah O'Keefe and Virginia's Amanda Sambach are four back.
So what is Ganne visualizing for round two? Pedal to the floor to expand her lead, or a more conservative approach to preserve her spot in Saturday's final round at Augusta National Golf Club?
"It depends where the pins are," she explained. "I'll take it one hole at a time and come up with the best strategy."
Ganne was a member of Stanford's national championship-winning team last season, fighting through hip and back injuries that led her to take the summer off to reset and recover. She worked on her ...
