There’s a familiar theme surrounding the final round of the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Experience.
For the second year in a row, the top-5 and ties on the leaderboard heading into Saturday have all played in previous ANWA tournaments. Asterisk Talley, last year’s runner-up, leads the way at 11-under. She also is the lone player in the field to go bogey-free through the first 36 holes of this tournament. Andrea Revuelta is the other 2025 top-10 finisher within striking distance.
That’s no coincidence, either. Stanford’s Meja Öretengren, who’s in the middle of her fifth ANWA appearance, has learned more about the course with each round she’s played at Champion’s Retreat and Augusta National; with the latter bringing its own set of challenges.
“I think the first time you get to play Augusta National is very intimidating, and there’s a lot of things going around outside of just the golf part,” she said. “So I think you need maybe at least a year to get to go around Augusta twice and see how it’s really like in competitive settings. For me, myself, I think I’ve learned a little bit every single year, and I now feel more comfortable of playing at such a big stage.”
Friday’s practice round, paired with Saturday for those who made the cut, becomes a crash course in learning one of the most challenging golf courses in the world. There’s also the “awe” factor, which is understandably difficult for some to overcome ― even if they’ve been exposed to big amateur events prior. There’s nothing that can replicate the experience here and that is a factor.
Saturday will be Arianna Lau’s first competitive round at Augusta after missing the cut in 2025, so Friday was a day to gather as much information as possible.
“Yeah, last year I was just so in awe of the course and the entire experience. … So today I just tried to, like, be more strategic about the practice round because this course is really tough,” she said. “It’s really important to know where all the good misses are and to be familiar with the greens, so yeah, I focused on that today.”
The biggest common denominator comes down to preparation. Maria Jose Marin, who sits one shot behind Talley for the lead through 36 holes, is in her fourth ANWA and this is her third made cut. The 19-year-old’s preparation during her first exposure to the course in 2023 to now has changed considerably.
“I think one of the biggest challenges the first time that you play Augusta, it’s everything that’s on your mind that you see on TV and all the expectation that you have from the course and just — let’s say, hole 16, when you see Tiger Woods chipping in from the back of the green, just like, oh, I want to play that shot, and just not playing really what you are going to play,” she said. “I think that’s one of the biggest, like, changes that I made, well, on to this (year). Now my preparation changed a lot, and I’m giving myself more shots that I’m actually going to play…”
Knowing when to be aggressive and when to dial it back at Augusta is something the best players in the world have been trying to master for decades. That’s something that can only be accomplished with experience.
“I think a little bit of both. I think, you know, you have to be a little aggressive at times, and I think knowing the course a little better is going to help you in those situations where you need to be a little more aggressive or you need to hit a good shot in that moment,” Talley said. “I think just knowing where to miss and where not to miss on this course is going to be pretty crucial, and just being around it for that long is going to help a little bit.”
Augusta National has a well-earned reputation for rewarding solid golf shots. That’s never changed. The other side of that coin, however, is one or two poorly-judged decisions on the course can make for a long day; it’s no different whether it’s Jordan Spieth or Asterisk Talley.
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve all watched the Masters, right (laughing),” Talley said. “With all the meltdowns that happen on Amen Corner, and anything can happen, someone can make a 10 or someone can make a 1, right? So anything can happen really. There’s a lot of water on this course. There’s a lot of slopes. Anyone can lose their ball or maybe make it, so anything can really happen. That’s why I think one or two shots is not going to set you apart from anybody else.”
Talley owns a pair of top-10 finishes in her ANWA career, but Saturday will be anyone’s tournament to win. The entire field of 32 is separated by 10 strokes (while the top-10 are just six shots apart).