Eighteen-year-old South Australian Raegan Denton now owns the best finish ever by an Australian at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in her debut appearance at the famed Georgia layout.

RELATED: Maria Jose Marin gets one lucky break and seizes the moment to win Augusta National Women’s Amateur

Just 32 players earned a start in the final round played at Augusta National Golf Club, the first two played at nearby Champions Retreat Golf Club.

Denton’s opening round of five-under 67 went a long way to securing her a coveted tee-time at Augusta National with a round of even-par on day two to go into the final round inside the top 10.

Bound for Louisiana State University in August, Denton dealt with the enormous galleries superbly, making three birdies in her opening four holes to well and truly settle the nerves.

She would make a further four birdies over the course of her round of three-under 69, just one shy of low round of the day, to finish in a tie for fourth.

Just the second Australian to play the third and final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Denton’s top-five finish betters the previous best by an Aussie, Kirsten Rudgeley finishing tied for eighth in 2022.

“It’s just so surreal,” Denton said of her taste of Augusta.

“Even though I was told how big the crowds were, I don’t think I quite was able to picture it or expect it. I’ve played in a couple of pro tournaments at home and the crowd didn’t even get close to this, so I was just shaking so much.

“I was just so honoured to be able to get to have the experience.”

Winner of the Master of the Amateurs at Southern Golf Club in January, Denton had a hole-in-one at the Women’s Australian Open and finished tied for 24th at the Australian WPGA Championship on the Gold Coast.

She was also last week named a 2026 recipient of the Karrie Webb Scholarship as Denton looks ahead to adding to the current strength of Australian women’s golf.

“I think it’s almost hard to put into words,” she added. “Those are big names that I’ve looked up to since I was little, and to think that maybe one day little girls could look up to a name like mine on a leaderboard is just so special. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get used to the feeling.”