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Mark Schlabach
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Kansas State senior Carla Bernat Escuder was playing the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at perhaps the world’s most famous golf course for only the second time on Saturday.
But like many Spanish golfers before her, Bernat Escuder felt right at home while carding a 4-under 68 at Augusta National Golf Club, becoming the first woman from her country to win the six-year-old tournament with a 54-hole total of 204.
Bernat Escuder finished one shot ahead of 16-year-old Asterisk Talley, who posted a 4-under 68 on Saturday, and three in front of defending champion Lottie Woad of England, who finished with an even-par 72.
Bernat Escuder, 21, led by as many as three shots on the second nine, but her advantage shrank to just one over Talley after her approach landed in a greenside bunker on the par-4 17th. She two-putted for her second bogey of the round.
But Bernat Escuder righted the ship with a big drive on the par-4 18th, and then she made a 5-foot, downhill par putt to finish off the biggest victory of her amateur career.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t stay like that because I want more Spaniards to get here and keep pushing our country up and up,” Bernat Escuder said. “Yeah, hopefully I’m not the last one.”
Bernat Escuder started the round trailing Woad and Kiara Romero by one shot. She took the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 eighth and made another tap-in birdie on the ninth to make the turn at 3-under 33.
The biggest moment of her round might have come on the par-4 10th when her approach shot was way right of the green. She somehow got up and down for par to maintain momentum.
Bernat Escuder is the first golfer to record three rounds in the 60s in ANWA history. She also carded 4-under 68s in the first two rounds at Champions Retreat Golf Club in nearby Evans, Georgia.
After the round, Bernat Escuder was congratulated by two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, one of four Spanish golfers to win a green jacket. Seve Ballesteros was the first one to do it 1980 and 1983, and Olazábal (1994, 1999), Sergio Garcia (2017) and Jon Rahm (2023) followed in his path.
“The way Bernat played was amazing, especially the back nine,” Olazábal said. “She truly didn’t miss a shot. I was talking to her, and obviously the adrenaline and the nerves got a little bit onto her on the last few holes, but she handled the pressure really well and fantastic for Spanish golf and for women’s golf.”
Olazábal watched the second nine on TV in the Augusta National clubhouse.
“I mean, obviously this place is special for us since Seve,” Olazábal said. “It’s a golf course that demands a lot of distance control with the irons and a good short game. And I think, you know, Spaniards in general, we’ve managed to have good hands.”
Garcia’s father, Victor, is Bernat Escuder’s swing coach. She grew up in Castellón de la Plana, Spain, with Jose Luis Ballester, who in August became the first Spanish golfer to win the U.S. Amateur. Ballester, an Arizona State senior, will make his Masters debut on Thursday.
Bernat Escuder played her first two seasons of college golf at Tulane, where she was the 2023 American Athletic Conference Women’s Golfer of the Year. She transferred to Kansas State as a junior after Green Wave coach Stew Burke was hired by the Wildcats. She is a four-time winner in two seasons and is the first golfer in the program’s history to be named All-American.
“She played incredible,” said Spain’s Andrea Revuelta, who played with Bernat Escuder on Saturday and tied for fourth at 8 under. “Didn’t miss one shot. She didn’t play defensive. She played aggressively. She hit the [par-5] 13th in two and hit incredible shots all over the 18 holes.”
Bernat Escuder hoped to stick around to watch her good friend Ballester play in the Masters. In terms of celebrating her historic win, Bernat Escuder was already thinking about getting a tattoo of the ANWA logo.
“I was thinking maybe the flower of Augusta, but I need to decide on that,” she said. “It’s a big decision.”
