AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tsubasa Kajitani’s first reaction to the magnitude of a title at Augusta National was a heavy, audible sigh.

Could you put into words what winning this event means to you?

Where to begin.

Then again, it was that kind of day at the iconic course. The lead changed so many times it was head-spinning. Kajitani was two shots back at the start of the day. When she birdied Nos. 14 and 15 – right about the time the leaders were splashing through Amen Corner – Kajitani suddenly had the outright lead. Even a double-bogey at No. 17 couldn’t derail her day.

Kajitani, at the urging of a veteran caddie who has carried the bag for other Japanese amateurs at Augusta National, put it in the rearview. It was key in finishing off her day.

“I changed my mind and I just switched off and switched on to the 18th,” she said. “So that’s why I made a par on 18.”

It took another par there in an extra hole with Emilia Migliaccio, but Kajitani now has the honor of being the first player from Japan to win at Augusta National. She followed Hinako Shibuno, who won the AIG Women’s British Open in 2019 to become the first Japanese major winner.

The 17-year-old said she hoped this title would improve her World Amateur Golf Ranking. Ideally, she’d like more of this stage. That should hardly be a problem.

“I’ve played a few professional tournaments in Japan, as well as some big tournaments in America, but you can’t really compare with this tournament,” Kajitani said.

As the Olympics heads to Tokyo in Augusta, golf in that country will be in the spotlight.

The back nine at Augusta National traditionally features some heroics. It certainly presented that two years ago when Kupcho played the last six holes in 5 under for a 67 and a four-shot win at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

This year, the back nine was more like a hard reset as a handful of players crowded the top of the leaderboard and traded the lead. Rose Zhang, the world No. 1 amateur and a co-leader at the start of the day, was the last one to fall away.

Zhang, 17 and a favorite this week, scrambled from the first tee shot – which landed left in the trees – and got up-and-down for par from the front bunker there. Her undoing ultimately started at the 13th, where she drove it left in the creek and eventually had to go back to the tee. She pulled a 3-wood to go for the green from 202 yards, landed in the penalty area and eventually walked away with a triple bogey that put her behind the eight-ball for the rest of the day.

She birdied 14 but bogeyed 17 and ultimately bowed out when she failed to make a 10-footer for birdie on No. 18 that would have allowed her to join the playoff at 1 over.

“I think for this event, I could have played a lot better,” Zhang said. “There were a lot of small things that I really want to work on when I get back, so hopefully I’ll just be able to take some notes and then come back even stronger.”

Only one player broke 70 on Saturday and it was Maja Stark, who holed an 18-footer for birdie to make the 36-hole cut and teed off in the first group. After firing a 77 – which included a back-nine 42 – here two years ago, Stark strung together six birdies on her way to a redemptive 69.

Only four other players broke par.

“The course is a lot tougher than what it was,” said Olivia Mehaffey, a fifth-year senior at Arizona State who finished ninth after a closing 75. “I knew we were never going to see a 67.”

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 03: Olivia Mehaffey of Northern Ireland walks across the Hogan Bridge on the 12th hole during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 03, 2021 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Count Mehaffey among the women who, at one point, sat in the driver’s seat. She had a share of the lead until she reached the 12th tee, where she waffled between an 8- and a 9-iron. She chose the 9, tried to hit it hard and caught it heavy instead, leaving it in the water on her way to double-bogey.

Mehaffey, a walking azalea in her pink sweater and matching skirt, went for the green in two on the par-5 13th and splashed that one, too.

“Thought for a minute it was really good,” she said. She scrambled for par there, played the next four in even and closed with a bogey to land at 3 over.

This is likely the last time Mehaffey will compete at Augusta National, having already delayed a professional career for an extra year at Arizona State – a decision forced by the pandemic. But the reroute brought many blessings, not the least of which was another shot at Augusta National.

“I’m kind of the person that tries to make the best out of whatever situation I’m in,” she said.

Saturday nearly presented a storybook swan song for Emilia Migliaccio, too. The Wake Forest senior started the day four shots off the lead, birdied the first hole and knew she was in the game.

“I was looking at the leaderboard the whole time,” she said. “My coach told me to be aggressive all day out there and if you get in the lead just play more conservatively and see what happens.”

Migliaccio has been ranked as highly as No. 3 in the world. She has won five times in college golf and is a likely selection to the U.S. Curtis Cup team this fall. But this year began with the tough but validating decision that she won’t turn professional after graduating from Wake Forest in the spring. Instead, she’ll join Golf Channel’s editorial staff for the summer before returning to Wake Forest to work on a master’s degree in communication, a two-year program.

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 03: Emilia Migliaccio of the United States talks with her caddie on the second hole during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 03, 2021 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Kim Lewellen, head women’s golf coach, had many discussions with Migliaccio about the future. Ultimately, Migliaccio’s decision not to pursue professional golf was freeing. It was firm too.

With an ANWA trophy in her hands, would she have revisited her immediate future?

“It wouldn’t have changed her mind a bit,” Lewellen said.

Migliaccio had her mom Ulrika on the bag on Saturday, a mother-daughter team that was a first at Augusta National. Nearly 30 years ago, as an All-American in women’s golf at Arizona, Ulrika made a similar decision to pursue finance instead of professional golf.

“The golf, the better she got, I believe, the more emotionally draining it became,” she said of her daughter’s career.

Ulrika’s second ride in the game came as a golf mom but, as she noted, “this might be the last rodeo.” She’s caddied for Emilia in at least a dozen tournaments.

A win would have brought Emilia a five-year ANWA exemption, but her world ranking could remain high enough for a return trip. Perhaps there is another scene to play out at Augusta National in the Migliaccio story.

That, however, will have to come in a later act.

“I’m ready for a new chapter,” she said. “I see a lot of opportunities for myself still in the golf industry but not as a professional golfer, and I’m so happy with that decision.”