Araki heads to Augusta fresh off of two top-40 finishes in professional events on the JLPGA. She tied for 30th at the V Point*Eneos Golf Tournament. Last year, she won the Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs and the Adam Scott Junior Championship and shot 73 in the final round at Augusta National to tie for ninth. In 2022, she won the Japan Girls’ Junior Championship in a playoff on the same course as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, joining former No. 1 Ai Miyazato and 2021 ANWA winner Kajitani as past champions.

Davis, a freshman at Auburn, is the lone defending champion in the field. After winning the title in 2022, she missed the cut in 2023 but is coming into the event in good form. She has two top-25 finishes this spring, including a T-8 at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Auburn coach Melissa Luellen said Davis has an old soul about her in that she’s not quick to panic. After joining the Tigers in the spring, she has easily clicked with the team.

The senior at Florida has been one of the best players in college golf this season. She has three victories at Tar Heel Invitational, The Ally and the Moon Golf Invitational. In her lone ANWA appearance last year, Filler missed the cut.

Lindblad is the favorite coming in, and for good reason. The top-ranked amateur in the world is coming off a 10-shot victory at the Clemson Invitational for her 14th collegiate win. Lindblad placed T-2 in 2021 and T-2 in 2022. After missing the cut last year, she has one goal on her mind: win.

The 2023 European Ladies’ Amateur champion will make her second Augusta National Women’s Amateur appearance (MC in 2023). The junior at Mississippi State has six top-five finishes this season, including a win at the Darius Rucker. A strong ball-striker, Ramirez reports that she’s mostly focused on putting heading into the ANWA, where the greens are demanding on both courses. Mental toughness, she believes, is what separates players on tough courses like Augusta National and Champions Retreat.

One of the 29 players making their debut at ANWA, Romero has two victories in her freshman season at Oregon, including the Annika Intercollegiate in her debut. She also won the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Sambach says her confidence is high as she enters her fourth ANWA appearance. The Virginia junior reached a big goal when she made the cut last year and tied for 14th. Now she hopes to contend for the title. With four top-five finishes so far this season, including a win at the 2023 Glass City Invitational, the steady Sambach feels comfortable on amateur golf’s biggest stage. She won last year’s ACC title in record fashion on the heels of a solid ANWA performance.

The 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, Schofill heads to her fourth Augusta National still smiling about that 4-under 32 she shot on the front nine (her back nine) to finish T-14. Schofill returns to the ANWA a different player, having proved something to herself after the victory at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. Luellen said the Auburn senior has greatly improved her course management since arriving as a pure pin-seeker.

Could this be Stone’s breakthrough? The 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur runner-up will make her third Augusta National Women’s Amateur appearance. She has advanced to the final round in each of the past two years, twice shooting 72 to finish runner-up to Anna Davis in 2022 and eighth in 2023.

Last August at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, she finished runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur to Megan Schofill. Before advancing to the final, she won matches against Amari Avery, Rachel Kuehn, Yana Wilson and Rachel Heck.

The 15-year-old will make her debut at ANWA, and in good form, too. Talley won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, shooting 9 under over 54 holes to set a new women’s scoring record. She is a two-time Drive, Chip and Putt National Finalist, finishing runner-up in the Girls 7-9 age division in 2018 and fifth in the Girls 12-13 age division in 2022.

The 2023 AJGA Player of the Year, Wilson won a Cactus Tour event earlier this season and contended at an Epson Tour event before having to pull out with illness just days after her caddie died. Wilson, 17, is a two-time winner of the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals and the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion. She also won last year’s AJGA Mizuho Americas Open alongside Rose Zhang, who won the Mizuho LPGA title in her pro debut.

The sophomore at Florida State is a model for consistency. She has six top-eight finishes this season, including a win in the Annika Intercollegiate last fall. In her ANWA debut last year, Woad finished 13th. Woad hits it big and gives herself plenty of birdie chances. She’ll once again have England team coach Steve Robinson on the bag. Robinson, who works as a performance coach for U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, got some pointers last year from Fitzpatrick’s caddie on how to tackle Augusta National.