Tightly-packed leaderboard ripe for final-round drama at Augusta National Women’s Amateur

The top 30 players take on Augusta National for the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday, and with more than a dozen players within three shots of the lead, the day seems primed for fireworks.

Sweden’s Beatrice Wallin and American Latanna Stone lead the field at even par after 36 holes.

Wallin has established herself as an ANWA veteran, making the cut in all three of her appearances and notching two top 10s. Now, she’s hoping to punctuate her final appearance with a win.

“I’m going to take it shot-by-shot and just enjoy it because it’s going to be my last time playing Augusta National and playing this event,” Wallin said after posting a second-round 71 at Champions Retreat. “I’m going to go out there with a big smile and see what happens.”

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Stone, Wallin’s partner at the top of the leaderboard, is making her ANWA debut this week.

“I’ve just been trying to keep it simple — fairways, greens, two-putt and get off,” Stone said. “I’m not trying to do anything special. I know there’s not a lot of birdies out there, and I’m just trying to stay patient.”

There will be plenty of pressure as the leaders take on Augusta National on Saturday. In addition to playing on an enormous stage, the ANWA champion will receive an exemption into the next five Augusta National Women’s Amateurs, as well as a berth in this year’s U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s Open championship, and any other USGA, R&A or PGA of America amateur championship she is eligible for.

Regardless of who claims the trophy, it’s going to be great theater — and an epic start to Masters week. You can watch the drama unfold with three hours of live coverage on NBC starting at 12 p.m. ET.

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As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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