2026 ANWA leaderboard: Maria Jose Marin, Soomin Oh tied on top after first round
The 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur field included 48 of the top 50 amateurs in the world, and that talent was on display in a major way Wednesday in the first round of Champions Retreat. The 72 women in the field began the battle for the top 30 and ties to earn a spot at Augusta National on Saturday for the final round, and 31 of them posted sub-par scores on a perfect day in Evans, Georgia.
Leading the field after the first round were No. 7 amateur and reigning NCAA individual champion Maria José Marín and No. 10 amateur Soomin Oh, who both shot 7-under to hold a share of the lead heading into Thursday’s second round.
Marín kept a clean scorecard with seven birdies and 11 pars as she cruised through Champions Retreat in the morning without any issues. Oh joined him late in the afternoon, also avoiding any imperfections on his card and finishing with a birdie at No. 18 to prevent Marín from holding a solo lead heading into the second round.
Just behind are other members of the top 10 in the world rankings, as world No. 3 Andrea Revuelta and ANWA 2025 runner-up Asterisk Talley both shot 6-under 66 to stay on the heels of the leaders after 18 holes of play.
The first round saw another fast start at ANWA, and the dividing line looks likely to end in red numbers. There are currently 31 players at 1 under or better, with the top 30 and ties counting, and all of the top five in the world rankings are within that figure after the first round.
Top-ranked Kiara Romero managed a 2-under 70 to stay in the hunt. The No. 2 and No. 4 ranked amateurs Paula Martin Sampedro and Farah O’Keefe each managed their way to a 1-under 71 to prepare for a trip to Augusta National. And world number 5 Meja Örtengren posted a 5-under 67 and is firmly in the race.
As last year’s championship proved, the watchword at ANWA is consistency, and the challenge for those at the top of the standings is to avoid a disappointment on Thursday. Those who are able to maintain a strong level – and carry that scoring power to Augusta National – are the ones who will fight for one of the most coveted trophies in amateur golf on Saturday.
This low score leaves those who started slower with work to do on Thursday at Champions Retreat if they want to earn one of the coveted Saturday starting times. That group includes world number 6 Megha Ganne, who struggled to reach a score of 77 a year after flying away with a 63 to take the first-round lead. She’ll need to produce that kind of round on Thursday to move inside the cut line, as the scoring power demonstrated by the field in the first round was incredibly impressive.
Augusta National Women’s Amateur Rankings 2026
T1. Maria José Marín, Soomin Oh (-7)
T3. Vanessa Brovilos, Asterisk Talley, Andrea Revuelta (-6)
T6. Meja Örtengren, Amélie Zalsman, Raegan Denton (-5)
T9. Avery Weed, Arianna Lau, Lauren Kim (-4)
T12. Chloé Kovelesky, Gyubeen Kim, Ava Merrill (-3)
T15. Kiara Romero and eight others (-2)
T23. Farah O’Keefe, Paula Martin Sampedro and seven others (-1)
