AUGUSTA, Ga. — Already the best amateur in women’s golf, Rose Zhang set another record Thursday to take a five-shot lead in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, leaving her one round away at the home of the Masters from another big title.
Zhang opened with a 6-under 66 at Champions Retreat to set the tournament record. She went one lower Thursday with a 7-under 65 — despite making her only bogey of the tournament — and finished with a long chip to 3 feet for birdie.
“This is not a course where I can see a bogey-free 66. And what did she shoot today, 65? That doesn’t even enter my brain,” said Megha Ganne, who plays with Zhang at Stanford.
Zhang made it look that easy, even with one of the more difficult shots. She pulled her drive on the par-5 ninth into the rough, the ball well above her feet. Instead of playing it safe, she hit 3-wood from 237 yards and aimed well right of the green toward a TV tower.
It trundled onto the green to 30 feet, and she made the eagle putt.
“All I was thinking was don’t hook it so far it goes into the trees,” she said with a laugh. “I was also thinking of not topping it.”
No one else was within fewer than 10 shots of Zhang, a 19-year-old sophomore at Stanford and the reigning NCAA champion.