AUGUSTA, Ga. — Injured Stanford golfer Rachel Heck was watching the opening rounds of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on TV at her parents’ home in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this week.
When Cardinal teammate Rose Zhang grabbed what seemed like a commanding 5-shot lead after 36 holes, Heck knew she had to be there to watch Zhang try to complete what has been called the “amateur grand slam.”
Instead of spending the rest of her spring break at home and flying back to California, Heck took a detour to Augusta National Golf Club on Friday.
“I didn’t realize how nerve-wracking it was going to be,” Heck said. “I thought today would be a nice walk around Augusta. No big deal and watch Rose just run away with it. Not exactly how it went. I’ve never been so nervous watching anyone else. I don’t even know if I’ve been that nervous playing.”
It was a lot closer and took much longer than expected, thanks to a three-and-a-half-hour weather delay, but Zhang captured the missing jewel of her amateur career by defeating Georgia’s Jenny Bae on the second hole of a playoff to capture the ANWA title Saturday.
Zhang, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, has now won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur, 2021 U.S. Girls Junior, 2022 NCAA women’s individual title (Stanford also won a…
