Woad had to make a 5-footer on the 18th hole last year just to make the cut in her ANWA debut. This time around, she heads to the final round with the lead, and she’ll once again have Steve Robinson, England’s women’s national coach, on her bag. Robinson, who also works as a performance coach for Matt Fitzpatrick, said Woad’s distance control has been solid all week.

English players praise Robinson’s ability to help with course management, and in last year’s final round of the ANWA, he told Woad that she needed to go for the green in two on the par-5 13th. It was a little cold and the lie was off a side slope, and Woad thought she might lay up.

“No, we didn’t come here to lay up, we’re going for it,” Robinson told her.

She hit hybrid and two-putted for birdie en route to a 13th-place finish in her debut.

Robinson said he’ll mostly keep out of the way during Saturday’s final round, but if he needs to step in, he’ll do it.

Asterisk Talley, the youngest player in the field at 15, had to make a 5-footer on the last hole (No. 9) to make the cut. Her father and caddie, Jim, had no idea and admitted that was probably for the best. Otherwise, he might have been in there trying to help too much.

“I might have messed it up,” he said, with a laugh.

Talley can thank her dad for her unique first name, which means “little star” in Greek. Her mother, Brandii, is Greek. When asked whether she liked her name, Talley said it has its ups and downs.

“Some people are like, wow, really cool name,” she said, “and then some people are like, what the hell is that, and it’s like, sorry, I didn’t choose it. You just live with it.”

Talley likes to put an “x” when she dots the “I” in her name to make an asterisk sign. She’s been working on her autograph since adults started asking her for it around age 8. Her father, a former graphic designer turned corrections officer, has been working on a logo. When asked whether it might be embroidered on her clothes, which her father mostly buys on eBay, Talley said, “We’re not there yet, but that might happen.”

There’s no question about where Talley wants to go in this game. She’s quick to say she wants to be No. 1, and if she can get to the LPGA without going to college, even better.

Carla Bernat Escuder turned in the low round of the day, a 3-under 69, to vault from a share of 69th to inside the cut line. The 20-year-old Spaniard was actually the last person to get into the field this week after former champion Tsubasa Kajitani withdrew from the event. Bernat Escuder heard the news while playing in a qualifying round less than three weeks ago back home at Kansas State.

“It was just like unbelievable,” she said. “I was like, I can’t believe it. In my head I couldn’t process it until a week ago.”

Bernat Escuder birdied two of the last four holes to make the cut on the number after opening with a 78.

Emilia Migliaccio, the oldest player in the field who plays golf part-time now, shot 72 to make the cut at 3 over. The Wake Forest grad typically tries to squeeze in practice in between her live TV gigs (sometimes in between segments). She calls golf both for Golf Channel and PGA Tour Live, opting to pursue a career outside of professional golf after helping Wake Forest win a national title last spring.

Migliaccio is the only player who has teed it up in all five editions of the ANWA. She lost to Kajitani at the 2021 ANWA on the first hole of a playoff.

Laney Frye’s caddie, Steve Kling, said great shot after she hit a beautiful 4-iron down the 18th to set up her third shot. But then a strange thing happened. Frye’s ball hit a sprinkler head and bounded 35 yards forward and to the left, falling into the water hazard.

For a player who started off the second round with three straight birdies, it was a deflating way to end the day. Mercifully, that stroke of misfortune did not cost a round at Augusta National on Saturday. This marks the first time the Kentucky senior has made the cut as she finished at 3 over for the tournament after a second-round 75.

After a tough day on the greens Wednesday, Frye called her swing coach, Ted Scott, who caddies for World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, looking for advice.

“He told me something that a friend told him in the pro golf world,” said Frye. “Somebody said, “Why not me?” before every shot. I kind of adopted that mentality. Why not me? Why not now? Could be a great shot. Who is to say it’s not?”