Maria Jose Marin of Colombia went from a tight battle with Asterisk Talley to a runaway winner in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, closing with a 4-under 68 for a victory made easier after the 17-year-old Talley collapsed on the back nine.
“It means the world to me,” said Marin, who was crushed when she failed to make the 36-hole cut last year to play a final round at Augusta National.
Marin, a junior at Arkansas, becomes the third NCAA champion to win at the home of the Masters, following Jennifer Kupcho and Rose Zhang, and this one featured a shocker on the back nine.
Talley, who led by as many as three shots early, made her first bogey of the tournament on the tough par-4 11th, falling into a share of the lead with Marin.
And then it all came undone. Talley went long into a back bunker on the par-3 12th. She went at the right pin with a shot too strong, and the ball rolled off the front, down a slope and into the water. Talley decided to drop in the bunker, and did the same thing again.
Stunned, the California teenager took her next penalty drop on the other side of the water, pitched to about 8 feet and holed that for a quadruple-bogey 7.
In the group ahead, Marin reached the par-5 13th and two-putted for birdie to get to 14-under par, suddenly five shots ahead as Talley tried to regain her composure.
The last challenge for Marin came from Andrea Revuelta, who birdied Amen Corner to stay on the fringes of contention. On the par-5 15th, Marin chose to lay up with a four-shot lead, but her third was well long, and her fourth shot up the slope went to the front of the green. She had 5 feet for bogey, while Revuelta had 8 feet for birdie.
Revuelta, who had reached the back collar of the green in two, missed and had to settle for par. Marin made her bogey putt to stay three ahead, and the 19-year-old Colombian hit her tee shot to about 6 feet for birdie on the 16th to put it away. Revuelta closed with a 68 and was runner-up.
Talley took a double bogey on the 16th — she played par 3s in 6 over on the back nine — and wound up with a 75 to tie for fourth, six shots behind. Meja Örtengren of Sweden, who played in the final group with Talley, shot 74.
Marin set an Augusta National Women’s Amateur record at 14-under 202. The smile never left her face as she walked up the 18th green, raising her right hand when she tapped in for par. Among those who celebrated with her was Maria Fassi of Mexico, another Arkansas star who was runner-up in the inaugural tournament. Marin has called that moment a big inspiration.
Masters chairman Fred Ridley presented the trophy to her in Butler Cabin, and Marin held it aloft, smiled wide and said, “It’s so pretty.”
Marin, who started the final round one shot behind, fell three back with a bogey on third hole. That was her last big mistake until the tournament was in hand. She made a series of big par putts that kept her in range until Talley fell apart.
Along with winning the NCAA last year, Marin won the Women’s Amateur Latin America. That puts her into three of the LPGA Tour’s majors this year.
AP
