Carolina Lopez-Chacarra of Wake Forest made an early splash with spectacular dash through Amen Corner during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The Spaniard birdied Nos. 11, 12 and 13 — the three holes comprising the course’s legendary “Amen Corner” — on her way to an impressive 4-under-par 68 at Augusta National Golf Club, home of next week’s Masters.
Participating in the tournament for the fifth straight year, Lopez-Chacarra played the final eight holes in 5-under, highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 15th hole. At 6-under for the tournament, she was in position for a top-10 finish as the leaders played the back nine.
“Just being here, it’s like a gift for all of the hard work that I’ve put in throughout the year,” Lopez-Chacarra said in a statement posted by Wake Forest. “I teed off and I thought ‘I just want to enjoy it’. It’s my first time here playing Augusta [National] during a competitive round and I just wanted to make the most of it and take it all in.”
Carla Bernat Escuder of Spain, who shot 68 Saturday, won at 12-under 204. Escuder also shot 68 in the first two rounds at Champions Retreat.
Several players posted good scores at Augusta National, which played about 6,355 yards — nearly 1,200 yards shorter than the Masters distance. Elia Galitzky of Thailand, who finished shot 66. Of the 31 players who advanced to Augusta National, eight broke par and another six matched par on the course.
