Japanese teenager Tsubasa Kajitani won the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur after beating America’s Emilia Migliaccio on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.
Kajitani, 17, who was 26th in the world amateur rankings before the tournament, entered the final round at Augusta National tied for fifth. And her hopes of victory seemed slim after she made a bogey on the par-three fourth, but she bounced back with birdies at the 8th, 14th and 15th.
But she ran into trouble with a three-putt double-bogey on the par-four 17th and thought that her hopes may have been dashed with three groups still out on the course. But those players found their own trouble on Augusta’s fabled back nine, and a closing par-72 round proved good enough to force the play-off with Migliaccio, a senior at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, who closed with a two-under par 70.
Kajitani, who shot rounds of 73 and 72 in the opening two rounds at Champions Retreat, sealed her success in the first hole of the play-off with a gutsy two-putt par from 45 feet on Augusta’s 18th green.
Six players – Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Rachel Heck, Emma Spitz, Karen Fredgaard and second-round co-leaders Ingrid Lindblad and Rose Zhang – tied for third place, one stroke behind Kajitani and Migliaccio.
Reflecting on her shock success, Kajitani said: “To be honest, when I came to the States, I didn’t expect that I was going to win the tournament. Then, day-by-day, I gained in confidence and then I won the tournament.”
Only 30 players progressed through to the final round at Augusta. Northern Ireland’s Olivia Mehaffey faired best of the UK starters, finishing tied ninth on three over par, while Surrey’s Annabel Fuller finished tied 22nd following rounds of 72, 75 and 79 to end up on 10 over.