Maria Jose Marin became the first Latin America representative to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the first Colombian to win at Augusta National and set a new championship scoring record in the process.
Marin’s score of fourteen-under, beat the previous record by two strokes as she romped to a four shot victory on Saturday with a clinical display of front running.
The number seven amateur in the world began the final day trailing the lead by the minimum but roared out of the traps and made the turn three-under for her round.
A crucial 20-foot par save on the 10th kept her momentum before a huge turning point came in the round. 36-hole leader Asterisk Talley became the latest soul to fall at the par-3 12th as she carded a devastating triple-bogey before Marin birdied the 13th to hit the front on her own.
Marin, a University of Arkansas junior, hammered home her advantage with a birdie on the par-3 16th and tapped in a par on the last for a closing 68 to become just the second player in the history of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur to shoot three rounds in the 60s – 65, 69, 68.
The 19-year-old joins Jennifer Kupcho, Tsubasa Kajitani, Anna Davis, Rose Zhang and Lottie Woad as Augusta National Women’s Amateur champions.
“Of course this is a win for my country and just beyond proud to represent them,” said Marin. “I am half Mexican too, so it is with great pride that I represent Mexico in the bottom of my heart too. I can just say dream big. Never give up on your dreams. I would never, ever think that I was going to be right here right now, but it’s just because all of my hard work and my perseverance and the love that I have for the game.”
On Her Embrace With Her Family After Winning: “When I got off of 18, of course my mom and my dad were there. We talked about it yesterday, not a lot, but we talked about what would happen if you win? I was like, I want you both out on the green. I want you there because I want you to be the first ones I hug.”
It was a weekend of firsts for Marin who became the first player to win having missed the cut the previous year while she also matched Jennifer Kupcho’s four stroke margin of victory from 2019.
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