Asterisk Talley (left) and Rianne Malixi (USGA Photo)
The championship match of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club will feature some familiar faces.
Three weeks ago to the day, 17-year-old Rianne Malixi defeated Asterisk Talley in the final match of the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif. The pair will square off once again in the 36-hole championship match here in Tulsa, Okla., after each won their semifinal matches on Saturday morning. It is the first time two finalists will face off against each other in multiple USGA championship matches.
Malixi, a 2025 Duke University commit, defeated Talley in the 36-hole junior finale, 8 and 7, and is looking to become the second ever to win both events in the same summer. Eun Jeong Seong was the first to accomplish the feat in 2016. Talley, a 15-year-old rising sophomore in high school, has been the hottest player in amateur golf this summer with wins at the prestigious Sage Valley Junior Invitational (ahead of the runner-up Malixi) and 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball alongside partner Sarah Lim.
She also shared low-amateur honors at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally and finished eighth at the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. This summer alone she holds a 15-1 match play record in USGA championships.
In the first match of the morning, medalist Maria Jose Marin took the early lead with a par on the second hole, but Talley got in the mix with a pair of clutch putts from outside 10 feet on Nos. 3 for par to avoid a lost hole and again on No. 4 for birdie to square the match.
Two holes later Talley took her first lead of the match with another birdie on the par-3 6th hole after Marin found the greenside bunker off the tee, but the Colombian immediately bounced back and took advantage of two Talley errors on Nos. 7 and 8 to win with par and reclaim her lead. On the par-4 9th, Marin lipped out for birdie from outside 40 feet and then watched Talley sink another clutch birdie putt to tie the match at the turn.
The two played ping-pong with the lead before Marin took the 10th hole with par and Talley followed suit with consecutive wins on Nos. 11 and 12 with par. The match took a permanent turn on the par-5 13th, when Marin dropped to her knees after her approach from the fairway. After receiving medical attention, Marin fought through the pain and matched Talley with a bogey to stay 1 down. She received more medical attention before teeing off on the par-3 14th and hit a great tee shot to find the green while Talley missed off the right edge. The pair matched pars and went to the par-4 15th, where Marin ultimately conceded the match after her approach from the right rough.
“It extended more than it should and hurt really bad,” said Marin. “Like something wasn’t broken but like something was wrong there. I just went to the ground and couldn’t move. It’s of course painful because I wanted to be in the finals so badly. And after getting to this point, I knew I was capable of doing something better. But I looked at my dad [and caddy] and just said ‘I can’t. I can’t do this anymore.’ And he was like, ‘Okay, just take care of yourself.’”
The second match began as a feature episode of the Kendall Todd show as she won the first hole with par and never relinquished her lead on the front nine thanks to an impressive driving display off the tee. Todd briefly went 2 up with a birdie on No. 4 and par on No. 8, but Malixi was able to get the match to within one with a pair of pars on Nos. 6 and 9.
Malixi, competing in her fourth U.S. Women’s Amateur, had an answer for every question posed by Todd on the back nine. She squared the match with a par on No. 10, made double bogey on the par-5 13th to drop the hole, and then got even once again with birdie on No. 13. When Todd took a 1-up lead with two to play, Malixi put two circles on the scorecard and stole a 1-up win with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18, her only lead of the match.
While the outcome wasn’t in Todd’s favor, the rising senior at the University of Arkansas will take plenty of memories and lessons with her back to Fayetteville for her final college season.
“Just how much I can accomplish if I just put my mind to it, how far I can really go if I want to,” Todd said of what she learned. “(My) game has been really good so confidence is high going into the season. Really looking forward to it.”
With storms expected in the area on Sunday, the first 18 holes of the 36-hole championship match will begin at 2:10 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon.
View results for U.S. Women's Amateur
ABOUT THE
U.S. Women's Amateur
The U.S. Women's Amateur, the third
oldest of
the USGA championships, was first played
in 1895
at Meadowbrook Club in Hempstead, N.Y.
The
event is open to any female amateur who
has a
USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 5.4.
The
Women's Amateur is one of 14 national
championships conducted annually by the
USGA,
10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
View Complete Tournament Information