Tag: World Amateur Golf Ranking

Lottie Woad wins Mark H. McCormack medal as world’s top female amateur

Woad is the first female winner of the McCormack Medal from England.

Lottie Woad, who’s set to begin her third season at Florida State this fall after representing the GB&I team at the Curtis Cup, has been named winner of the Mark H. McCormack medal, the United States Golf Association and R&A announced Wednesday.

The McCormack medal is given to the leading female player in the 2024 World Amateur Golf Ranking. Ingrid Lindblad won the award last year.

Woad is the first female winner of the McCormack Medal from England. She also receives exemptions into the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills and next year’s AIG Women’s Open.

“I’m really happy to have won the McCormack Medal,” said Woad. “It rounds off a successful year for me and I’m honored to be named alongside the previous recipients of the medal.

“It was always a goal of mine to reach number one and become the world’s leading amateur golfer. It’s taken a while to get there but it’s nice to see all the hard work pay off and achieve this milestone.”

Earlier this year, the 20-year-old became the first European golfer to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in dramatic fashion after going birdie-birdie over the final two holes to clip USC’s Bailey Shoemaker by one shot.

She has amassed three victories in her collegiate career, including last fall at the Annika Intercollegiate. Woad has also recorded three second-place finishes, including the 2024 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship.

Field for 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur set, includes No. 1 in WAGR and two past champs

The field includes players from 18 countries and six continents.

The field for the fifth Augusta National Women’s Amateur is set.

A full field of 72 golfers is confirmed for the 2024 competition, which is set for April 3-6, the week before the Masters, Augusta National Golf Club confirmed Wednesday.

The top 43 eligible amateurs in the final World Amateur Golf Ranking of 2023 have accepted invitations to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The field includes players from 18 countries and six continents, including two of the last three champions in Tsubasa Kajitani (2021) and Anna Davis (2022), along with top-ranked amateur and three-time participant Ingrid Lindblad.

The Augusta National Women’s Amateur field will compete across 54 holes of stroke play, with a cut to 30 players and ties taking place after 36 holes. The first two rounds will take place on the Island and Bluff nines at Champions Retreat Golf Club on Wednesday, April 3, and Thursday, April 4. The entire field will then play Augusta National for an official practice round on Friday, April 5. The final round, featuring competitors who made the cut, will take place on Saturday, April 6 at Augusta National.

The first and second rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur will be broadcast live on Golf Channel (1:30-3:30 p.m. ET) from Champions Retreat Golf Club. NBC Sports will produce and broadcast three hours (Noon-3 p.m. ET) of live final-round coverage of the event at Augusta National.

Additionally, Golf Channel’s “Live From the Masters” will commence on Friday, April 5 at Augusta National to provide coverage of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals and the Masters Tournament.

Rose Zhang is the defending champion, defeating Jenny Bae in a playoff.

Here’s a look at the field for the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

Player Country
Yuna Araki Japan
Kajsa Arwefjall Sweden
Amari Avery USA
Helen Briem Germany
Phoebe Brinker USA
Zoe Antoinette Campos USA
Jensen Castle USA
Leigh Chien USA
Gianna Clemente USA
Hailee Cooper USA
Hannah Darling Scotland
Anna Davis USA
Sadie Englemann USA
Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio Spain
Maisie Filler USA
Francesa Fiorellini Italy
Laney Frye USA
Eila Galitsky Thailand
Megha Ganne USA
Melanie Green USA
Charlotte Heath England
Rachel Heck USA
Maddison Hinson-Tolchard Australia
Chiara Horder Germany
Saori Iijima Japan
Tsubasa Kajitani Japan
Lauren Kim Canada
Minsol Kim
Korea
Jasmine Koo USA
Rachel Kuehn USA
Andrea Lignell Sweden
Ingrid Lindblad Sweden
Julia Lopez Ramirez Spain
Carolina Lopez-Chacarra Coto Spain
Caitlyn Macnab South Africa
Rianne Malixi Philippines
Maria Jose Marin Colombia
Paula Martin Sampedro Spain
Emma McMyler USA
Ashley Menne USA
Emilia Migliaccio Doran USA
Anna Morgan USA
Hinano Muguruma Japan
Kokoro Nakamura Japan
Lauryn Nguyen USA
Farah O’Keefe USA
Meja Ortengren Sweden
Annabelle Pancake USA
Ashleigh Park USA
Catherine Park USA
Jennie Park USA
Avani Prashanth India
Andrea Revuelta Spain
Kiara Romero USA
Louise Rydqvist Sweden
Amanda Sambach USA
Megan Schofill USA
Mamika Shinchi Japan
Bailey Shoemaker USA
Latanna Stone USA
Nora Sundberg Sweden
Asterisk Talley USA
Rocio Tejedo Spain
Sayaka Teraoka Japan
Mirabel Ting Malaysia
Casey Weidenfeld USA
Yana Wilson USA
Lottie Woad England
Chun-Wei Wu Chinese Taipei
Kelly Xu USA
Suzuna Yokoyama Japan
Rin Yoshida Japan

 

Ingrid Lindblad wins Mark H. McCormack medal as world’s top female amateur

Lindblad becomes the first golfer, male or female, from Sweden to win the McCormack Medal. 

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Ingrid Lindblad, who’s set to begin her fifth season at LSU this fall, has been named winner of the Mark H. McCormack medal, the United States Golf Association and R&A announced Wednesday.

The McCormack medal is given to the leading female player in the 2023 World Amateur Golf Ranking. Rose Zhang won the past three McCormack medals.

Lindblad receives exemptions into the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania as well as the 2024 AIG Women’s Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews.  

“It’s an honor to receive this medal,” Lindblad said in a release. “Looking back at past recipients, it’s amazing to see what they have accomplished and to join them on this list. I am honored to have received this award and I believe it’s a receipt of all the hard work I’ve put into this game” 

Lindblad has had a stellar college career, winning 11 times for LSU, including the 2022 SEC individual championship, as well as two SEC Player of the Year honors. In that time, she has earned 33 top-10 finishes and is a four-time All-SEC team selection. She was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2020. She’s a four-time Golfweek first-team All-American.

In addition, Lindblad has shined on the international stage. She won the 2021 European Ladies Amateur Championship and earned low-amateur honors at the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open with a T-11 finish that included a first-round 65, setting the all-time amateur scoring record for the championship. She won the World Amateur Team Championship with Sweden in 2022, earned a runner-up finish at the 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and a runner-up finish at the 2023 European Ladies Amateur. She has competed in six major championships, making the cut in two.  

With the award, Lindblad becomes the first golfer, male or female, from Sweden to win the McCormack Medal. 

The R&A and the USGA co-award the McCormack Medal annually. It is named after Mark H. McCormack, who founded the sports marketing company IMG and was a great supporter of amateur golf. 

Rose Zhang breaks Leona Maguire’s record for most time ranked No. 1 in World Amateur Golf Ranking

Zhang has spent 136 weeks as the world’s leading female amateur golfer.

What can’t Rose Zhang do?

She has won just nearly every prestigious tournament an amateur can. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which she captured earlier this month. The U.S. Girls’ Junior. The U.S. Women’s Amateur. The NCAA individual title.

And Wednesday, she gets to tack yet another accomplishment to her resume: most weeks as the No. 1 golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Zhang has spent 136 weeks as the world’s leading female amateur golfer, surpassing the total of 135 weeks that Leona Maguire set in 2018. The record for male amateur golfers is 87 weeks, held by Keita Nakajima of Japan.

The sophomore at Stanford ascended to the No. 1 position in WAGR in September 2020. She also bested Lydia Ko’s record of 130 consecutive weeks by remaining at the top ever since.

“It’s an unbelievable honor and a testament to a lot of hard work not just by me but by my team as well,” Zhang said in a release. “Passing names like Lydia and Leona on any list is incredible; they’ve both gone on to have such impressive professional careers and are great role models in golf. I’m grateful for all the support I’ve received and look forward to continuing to pursue my dreams in this game.”

Zhang is a three-time winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal, coming in 2020, 2021 and 2022, as the world’s leading women’s amateur golfer. Only  Maguire and Ko have won the award three times previously.

“I want to congratulate Rose on this amazing achievement,” Maguire said in a release. “It takes so much hard work and determination to become the world’s number one amateur golfer and to consistently hold that position for a record-breaking number of weeks shows just how good a golfer Rose really is. She is a future star of the game.”

On Tuesday at the Pac-12 Championships at Papago Golf Course in Phoenix, she broke the 36-hole scoring record. Entering the final round, she is at 9 under with a four-shot lead. If Zhang were to hold on to win, it would be her 10th victory, setting a new Stanford record for wins by a women’s golfer in a career. Zhang is currently tied with Andrea Lee at nine.

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All three rounds of 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur to be broadcast; field includes World No. 1 Rose Zhang, last two champions

The field is going to be loaded.

If the initial field is any indication, the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur is going to be the best yet.

Invitations for the fourth ANWA were sent out last month, and 70 players as of Feb. 1 are confirmed in the field for the event, which is slated for March 29-April 1. What’s more impressive is the quality of the field.

Each of the top 45 eligible amateurs in the final World Amateur Golf Ranking of 2022 have accepted invitations to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, including the last two champions, Tsubasa Kajitani and Anna Davis, along with top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang, a sophomore at Stanford.

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Held the week before the 87th Masters, the first and second rounds of the ANWA will be at Champions Retreat Golf Club on the Island and Bluff nines. Come Friday, all players will have a practice round at Augusta National before those who make the 36-hole cut compete in the final round Saturday. The 36-hole cut will now be the top 30 and ties, as well.

For the first time ever, the first two rounds will be broadcast on Golf Channel from 1:30-3:30 p.m. ET. NBC will air the final round from 12-3 p.m. ET.

The winner of the ANWA will earn exemptions into three majors: the Chevron Championship, U.S. Women’s Open and AIG Women’s Open.

Tickets are sold out for the ANWA. More information on the field can be found here.

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Keita Nakajima becomes second consecutive Japanese golfer to win Mark H. McCormack Medal as world’s top male amateur

For the second consecutive year, the top honors in amateur golf go to Japan.

For the second consecutive year, the top honor in amateur golf goes to Japan. Keita Nakajima, the 21-year-old winner of this summer’s Japan Amateur, has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Nakajima has spent the past 17 weeks (and 30 total weeks since November 2020) atop the ranking. A year ago, compatriot Takumi Kanaya, who has since turned professional, earned the honor.

Nakajima has made a series of appearances in Japan Golf Tour Professional events over the past year in addition to top-20 finishes in the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup and Japan Open Championship. He was runner-up at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur.

“I am so excited and happy to have won the 2021 Mark H McCormack Medal,” said Nakajima. “Heading into university, my goal was to be the number one player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. I want to give many thanks for the support of my family, university, national team coaches and teammates. Without them, I could not have achieved this. I am also very proud and honoured to be awarded the medal following Takumi Kanaya.

“My next goal is to demonstrate my abilities on the world stage with confidence and hopefully follow in the footsteps of my fellow Japanese players including Hideki Matsuyama, Nasa Hataoka, Takumi Kanaya, and Yuka Saso.

“Thank you again to everyone who has supported me and to The R&A and USGA for their work in promoting amateur golf around the world. Arigato!”

Nakajima teed it up at the U.S. Amateur at Oakmont (Pennsylvania) Country Club last week but missed the cut to math play.

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Rose Zhang’s late-summer hot streak results in WAGR bump, Mark H. McCormack Medal

Rose Zhang has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked female amateur.

Rose Zhang, a 17-year-old amateur, finished 11th in last month’s ANA Inspiration, an LPGA major. That performance, coupled with her recent victory in the U.S. Women’s Amateur plus the AJGA Rolex Girls Junior Championship, bumped Zhang to the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

As a result of that, Zhang has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked female amateur.

The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship was her first victory of the season and she followed it with a win at the Rolex Girls Junior Championship only two weeks later. She set the course record, 64, at Dalhousie Golf Club at the Rolex tournament. These wins helped her ranking tremendously, and helped her move past Yu-Chiang Hou to take the top spot in the rankings.

“To win the McCormack Medal and join a list of such prestigious winners is such an incredible accomplishment and blessing,” said Zhang. “Over the past couple months, I’ve really persevered to better myself in all aspects of my golf game and physical condition. Receiving this award is continued validation that hard work pays off and it motivates me to continue this journey. It reignites my passion and love for this amazing sport.”

She becomes the third consecutive American winner of the women’s McCormack Medal following Jennifer Kupcho (2018) and Andrea Lee (2019).

Zhang started playing golf at the age of 9 when a set of clubs made its way into the Zhang family household. Within the first couple of swings, her family knew that there was something special on the horizon. She started to get lessons and a few months later she had won her first junior tournament. 

Prior to the U.S. Women’s Amateur, Zhang was dealing with a wrist injury from overuse, and her coach, George Pinnel, advised her to withdraw from the event. Putting aside her coaches orders, she chose to play anyway, leaving with some hardware. She started working with Pinnel at the age of 11 and has been with him ever since.  

Zhang’s finish at the ANA Inspiration tournament also left her as the low amateur. Her final score of 280 was the lowest 72-hole score ever posted by an amateur, lower than the previous best of 281 by Caroline Keggi in 1988 and Michelle Wie in 2004.

Zhang is a senior in high school and has committed to continue her academic and athletic career at Stanford.

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World Amateur Golf Ranking set for major revamp

The World Amateur Golf Ranking is to receive a major revamp for the 2020 season. The R&A and USGA is instituting a new system called the “Power Method” to try to improve the way amateurs are ranked. The governing bodies believe the new system will …

The World Amateur Golf Ranking is to receive a major revamp for the 2020 season. The R&A and USGA is instituting a new system called the “Power Method” to try to improve the way amateurs are ranked.

The governing bodies believe the new system will “better reflect the current performance of golfers by placing greater emphasis on current form and results by improving the algorithms used to determine the WAGR.

“In the new structure, every event in the world will earn a power number based on the strength of its starting field, which will then determine the total number of ranking points on offer to the field. This will extend to a maximum of 1000 for amateur events, with players also able to gain ranking points from playing in professional tournaments.”

It is the first major revision to the system since its inauguration in 2007.

“We are thrilled to introduce the Power Method which will significantly improve the World Amateur Golf Ranking,” said Jeff Holzschuh, chairman of the WAGR committee.

“We have listened to feedback about WAGR since its inception, and we believe this change addresses many of the challenges within the previous system.”

Professor Steve Otto, Director of Equipment Standards and Chief Technology Officer for the R&A, said: “The simplicity and elegance of the revised WAGR system will be of great benefit to competitive players at every level.”

“It will be easier for players to become ranked under the Power Method but, with the system recognizing current form and rewarding recent top results, it will be tougher to remain ranked compared to the previous system.

“The Power Method will make WAGR a true indication of the ranking of the world’s best and leading amateur golfers.”

There are currently just under 10,000 amateur golfers worldwide on the WAGR tables, over 6,500 men and in excess of 3,000 women.