New Delhi, April 3: Indian-origin amateur Megha Ganne carded a fabulous nine-under 63 at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Georgia on Wednesday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the 2025 Augusta National Women's Amateur.

Ganne, a Stanford University junior, posted a record bogey-free opening round, which included seven birdies and an eagle at the par-5 third hole. The 21-year-old's score is the lowest round in Augusta National Women's Amateur history with the previous record set by former Stanford teammate Rose Zhang (65 in 2023).

Ganne, the No. 12 amateur in the world, started at No. 10 and had three birdies in her first four holes before making the turn at four-under. She tacked on three more birdies and an eagle across her second nine to reach nine-under and tie another record for most birdies or better in a round with eight.

"I think it was just a really good day. Great timing to have -- this is my career low in a golf tournament, so I had a feeling I was going to go low today, but not this low. So I'm just trying to enjoy it," Ganne said later.

Ganne leads defending champion Lottie Woad by two strokes entering the second round of the 54-hole Championship. She is one of three players this week making their fifth appearance in the Championship. She has advanced to Saturday's final round at Augusta National Golf Club in each of the last two years with a best finish of T-9 in 2023. She was previously a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt National Finalist at Augusta National Golf Club.

Ganne revealed that swing changes helped in boosting her performance post her hip injury.

"Leading into last year, I had made some swing changes. Not that many this year. I've just been working out a lot more - not necessarily lifting weights, but after my injury, getting a lot more flexible and mobile in my hip, which I didn't know that was like a weakness of mine. So after that, I think my swing kind of - like I saw the progress in my swing just from that. So like not intentional changes, but definitely feel like I'm clearing through the ball better. So that's been nice," she said.

In Ganne's 10 previous rounds at the Augusta National Women's Amateur, she had never broken 70. Prior to Wednesday, her average score was 74.7. Woad now has a career score relative to par at the Augusta National Women's Amateur of 13-under. That's the best all-time, ahead of Jennifer Kupcho (10-under) and Maria Fassi (six-under).

"I think it's the most exciting week in amateur golf, men's or women's, period, in my opinion. I think everyone in golf knows about it. They might not know about certain other tournaments, but when this one's happening, people tune in. It just draws so much attention in the best way, and these women carry themselves in such a great way. I'm really excited to see where the tournament goes although I don't think it can get that much better than it is now," Ganne said.

The second round will continue on Thursday at Champions Retreat. Following completion of the second round, a cut will be made with the top-30 players and ties advancing to Saturday's final round at iconic Augusta National.

Leading Scores
9-under 63 - Megha Ganne
65 - Lottie Woad
67 - Amanda Sambach, Kiara Romero, Farah O'Keefe