Live updates
5 updates · newest first- UpdateAug 9, 10:36 PM UTC
- UpdateAug 9, 10:09 PM UTC
Asterisk Talley rallies to win 126th U.S. Women's Amateur, 8 and 6
Asterisk Talley defeated Anna Iwanaga 8 and 6 to claim the 126th U.S. Women's Amateur at The Honors Course, closing out the match on the 30th hole. The 2024 runner-up erased a 3-up morning deficit to win her first USGA championship. Talley's afternoon surge turned a three-hole disadvantage into a commanding victory over the top seed.
- UpdateAug 9, 5:12 PM UTC
Asterisk Talley leads Anna Iwanaga 3 up through the morning 18 holes of Sunday's 36-hole final for the Robert Cox Trophy.
The 2024 runner-up holds the edge at the midpoint. Asterisk Talley (3) turned for lunch 3 up on Anna Iwanaga (1) after the morning 18 of the 36-hole final at The Honors Course. Talley — playing her sixth match in three days after a grueling 39-hole Saturday — has carried the pre - UpdateAug 9, 1:29 PM UTC
Iwanaga, Talley advance to final; 36 holes for Robert Cox Trophy begins Sunday
Top seed Anna Iwanaga and No. 3 Asterisk Talley both closed out their semifinal opponents 6&4 to set up a championship match. Iwanaga defeated Gabriella Nicastro, while Talley topped Lily Peng.
The two seeds will play 36 holes Sunday for the Robert Cox Trophy. The final begins at 8:15 a.m. ET, with Golf Channel airing the afternoon 18 at 3 p.m. ET.
- UpdateAug 9, 2:25 AM UTC
Semifinals suspended for 4th straight day; Talley 3-up, Iwanaga 2-up when play halted
Weather stopped play for the fourth consecutive day, suspending both semifinals. Asterisk Talley leads Lily Peng 3-up through nine holes, while Anna Iwanaga holds a 2-up advantage on Gabriella Nicastro through four.
Both matches will resume at 7 a.m. Sunday, with the 36-hole final to follow.
The argument is settled. Asterisk Talley, the 17-year-old from Chowchilla, Calif., turned the 36-hole final into a rout, closing out co-medalist Anna Iwanaga 8 and 6 to win the 126th U.S. Women's Amateur at The Honors Course — two years after finishing runner-up in the same championship.
The turnaround told the story. Iwanaga led the morning 18 and stood 3 up early, but Talley reeled off the afternoon, squaring the match and never looking back — a relentless run that stretched her lead to as many as 8 up before ending it on the 30th hole. The player with one of the most accomplished résumés in amateur golf — a 2024 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball title, a runner-up finish here, four straight junior stars on her card — now has the one trophy that had eluded her.
Iwanaga's week ends one match short, but the No. 1 seed and co-medalist authored one of the deepest runs of any player in the field, falling only to the eventual champion in the final.
| Championship Match · 36 Holes | Result |
|---|---|
| Asterisk Talley (3) def. Anna Iwanaga (1) | 8 and 6 |
What she wins: The JoAnne Carner Medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy; an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open at Inverness Club; exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Women's Amateurs and 10 U.S. Girls' Juniors, if eligible; and a likely invitation to the 2027 Augusta National Women's Amateur.
The Final Is Set · Iwanaga vs. Talley · 36 Holes for the Robert Cox Trophy
The semifinals wrapped Sunday morning, and it's the two players who looked strongest all week left standing. Co-medalist Anna Iwanaga (1) and 2024 runner-up Asterisk Talley (3) will meet in the 36-hole championship match, both arriving off decisive 6-and-4 wins.
Iwanaga finished off Gabriella Nicastro (44) 6 and 4, closing the book on the bracket's Cinderella. The No. 1 seed from Japan has been the steadiest force in the field since sharing medalist honors, and she's now one match from a distinction that has waited nearly two decades — no co-medalist has won the U.S. Women's Amateur since Amanda Blumenherst in 2008.
Talley matched the margin, closing out Lily Peng (34) 6 and 4 to complete a semifinal she led 3 up when darkness stopped play Saturday night. The 17-year-old from Chowchilla returns to the final she reached in 2024 — the trophy that would settle the argument on one of the most accomplished résumés in amateur golf.
| Semifinal | Result |
|---|---|
| Anna Iwanaga (1) def. Gabriella Nicastro (44) | 6 and 4 |
| Asterisk Talley (3) def. Lily Peng (34) | 6 and 4 |
The championship match: Iwanaga vs. Talley, 36 holes, first tee at 8:15 a.m. ET Sunday. Golf Channel airs the afternoon 18 at 3 p.m. ET. Admission is free.
Semifinals · Saturday, Aug. 8 · Suspended by Weather, Resumes 7 a.m. Sunday
For the fourth straight day, the weather had the final word at The Honors Course. Both semifinal matches were underway when the storm — the fourth in as many days — halted play at 3:39 p.m. ET. Nearly three hours later, at 6:27 p.m., the horn sent players back out, only for darkness to suspend both matches before either could reach the clubhouse. They'll resume at 7 a.m. Sunday, with the 36-hole championship match to follow.
Asterisk Talley (3) is four holes from her second U.S. Women's Amateur final. The 2024 runner-up carried a 1-up edge into the delay against Lily Peng (34), then hit another gear when play resumed — a ten-foot birdie on No. 4 and back-to-back pars to win the 5th and 6th pushed her to 4 up. Peng, a fellow Northern Californian, answered with a ten-footer of her own on the 7th to trim it to three, where it stands through nine. Talley's day was a marathon: she finished her Round of 16 match, went 19 holes to survive 14-year-old Maggie Ma in the quarters, and played nine more in the semis — 39 holes in all.
Anna Iwanaga (1), the co-medalist, shows no signs of slowing. She led Gabriella Nicastro (44) by three before the stoppage and pushed to 2 up with a par at the par-4 4th when play resumed. Iwanaga is chasing a distinction that has waited nearly two decades: no co-medalist has gone on to win the U.S. Women's Amateur since Amanda Blumenherst in 2008.
| Semifinal | Status |
|---|---|
| Asterisk Talley (3) vs. Lily Peng (34) | Talley 3 up (thru 9) |
| Anna Iwanaga (1) vs. Gabriella Nicastro (44) | Iwanaga 2 up (thru 4) |
Talley's path to the semis came the hard way. Against Ma, she led by as many as 3 up through 15 before the 14-year-old won three straight to force the match to the 18th — where Talley drew on her experience, making birdie at the first playoff hole, the 416-yard par-4 10th, to advance.
What's next: The semifinals resume at 7 a.m. Sunday, with the 36-hole final to follow. Golf Channel airs the championship match at 3 p.m. ET. Admission is free.
The Final Eight · Quarterfinals
Meet the Quarterfinalists
Eight players are left standing at The Honors Course, and the bracket has never looked more open. The highest remaining seed, No. 3 Asterisk Talley, is also the highest-ranked player left in the world (No. 8). Behind her the field spans an 18-year age range and four countries — from 14-year-old Maggie Ma, the youngest in the championship, to 21-year-old Gabriella Nicastro. Four of the eight are ranked outside the world's top 300.
| Player | Home | Age | WAGR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asterisk Talley (3) | Chowchilla, Calif. | 17 | 8 |
| Anna Iwanaga (1) | Japan | 17 | 19 |
| Yujie Liu (26) | People's Rep. of China | 16 | 20 |
| Seojin Park (24) | Republic of Korea | 18 | 31 |
| Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang (52) | Thailand | 20 | 66 |
| Lily Peng (34) | San Ramon, Calif. | 17 | 69 |
| Gabriella Nicastro (44) | Huntsville, Ala. | 21 | 380 |
| Maggie (Jiayi) Ma (43) | Irvine, Calif. | 14 | 307 |
Quarterfinal pairings: Anna Iwanaga vs. Seojin Park, Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang vs. Gabriella Nicastro, Lily Peng vs. Yujie Liu, and Asterisk Talley vs. Maggie Ma. Golf Channel carries live coverage 3–6 p.m. ET.
Round of 16 · Saturday, Aug. 8 · Complete
A 14-Year-Old Advances, Heck Falls, and the Bracket Breaks Wide Open
The Round of 16 that severe weather froze Friday finished Saturday morning — and it took down two of the week's biggest names. Maggie Ma, the 14-year-old from Irvine, Calif., and the youngest player in the field, outlasted reigning U.S. Girls' Junior champion Clairey Lin (6) in 19 holes to reach the quarterfinals. And Rachel Heck's home-state run ended one round short of the weekend: Thailand's Pimchompoo "Pinky" Chaisilprungruang (52) beat the Memphis native 2 up.
Asterisk Talley (3) remains the class of the field, dispatching Australia's Rachel Lee 3 and 2 to stay alive as the only player seeded inside the top three. Yujie Liu (26), two days after running down 2024 champion Rianne Malixi, edged Bailey Shoemaker (23) 2 and 1. Lily Peng (34) needed the round's longest match to survive, going 21 holes to beat Lindsay McGrath (50). Co-medalist Anna Iwanaga (1) took out Michelle Xing (16) 3 and 1, Seojin Park (24) beat Ella Scaysbrook (40) by the same margin, and Gabriella Nicastro (44) closed out Ryleigh Knaub (28) 2 and 1.
| Result · Round of 16 | Margin |
|---|---|
| Anna Iwanaga (1) d. Michelle Xing (16) | 3 & 1 |
| Seojin Park (24) d. Ella Scaysbrook (40) | 3 & 1 |
| Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang (52) d. Rachel Heck (61) | 2 up |
| Gabriella Nicastro (44) d. Ryleigh Knaub (28) | 2 & 1 |
| Lily Peng (34) d. Lindsay McGrath (50) | 21 holes |
| Yujie Liu (26) d. Bailey Shoemaker (23) | 2 & 1 |
| Asterisk Talley (3) d. Rachel Lee (51) | 3 & 2 |
| Maggie Ma (43) d. Clairey Lin (6) | 19 holes |
Eight remain: Iwanaga, Seojin Park, Chaisilprungruang, Nicastro, Lily Peng, Yujie Liu, Talley and Maggie Ma. The quarterfinals are already underway, with the semifinals to follow as the compressed schedule catches up. Golf Channel carries live coverage 3–6 p.m. ET.
Round of 16 · Friday, Aug. 7 · Suspended for the Day
Severe storms ended Friday early at The Honors Course with all eight Round-of-16 matches unfinished. Play resumes Saturday at 7 a.m. ET, with the quarterfinals and semifinals to follow as time permits.
Storms Bring Friday to a Halt at The Honors Course
For the third straight day, severe weather disrupted the U.S. Women's Amateur. This time the players never returned. More than an inch of rain fell during a storm that sent lightning into a tree near the 17th tee, scattering bark across the course. Play was suspended at 3:29 p.m. ET and called for the day with every Round-of-16 match still on the course.
Co-medalist Anna Iwanaga was furthest along, 1 up on Michelle Xing through 10 after seeing a 3-up lead cut down. Ella Scaysbrook and Seojin Park were tied through nine, with Scaysbrook holing an eagle at the par-4 seventh. Pimchompoo "Pinky" Chaisilprungruang held a 1-up lead on Memphis native Rachel Heck through eight. Ryleigh Knaub owned the largest advantage at 3 up through seven, while Lily Peng, Yujie Liu and Asterisk Talley also led their matches.
| STATUS WHEN PLAY STOPPED · ROUND OF 16 | |
| Anna Iwanaga 1 up on Michelle Xing | Thru 10 |
| Ella Scaysbrook tied with Seojin Park | Thru 9 |
| Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang 1 up on Rachel Heck | Thru 8 |
| Ryleigh Knaub 3 up on Gabriella Nicastro | Thru 7 |
| Lily Peng 2 up on Lindsay McGrath | Thru 6 |
| Yujie Liu 2 up on Bailey Shoemaker | Thru 5 |
| Asterisk Talley 1 up on Rachel Lee | Thru 5 |
| Clairey Lin tied with Maggie Ma | Thru 4 |
Friday's Match-Play Highlights
Asterisk Talley produced the morning's biggest burst, opening birdie-birdie and holing out for eagle at the fourth while racing 5 up through five against Rayee Feng. Her 6-and-4 victory lifted her career USGA match-play record to 20-6 and her U.S. Women's Amateur mark to 7-2.
Clairey Lin eliminated world No. 4 Farah O'Keefe 2 and 1 in a match where neither player gave much away: Lin was 7 under through 17 with the usual match-play concessions, while O'Keefe played bogey-free and was 5 under. Fourteen-year-old Maggie Ma, the youngest player in the field, also holed out for eagle in her Round-of-32 win and was tied with Lin through four when the storm arrived.
Heck reached the Round of 16 by beating Gianna Singh 3 and 2, closing the match at the water-guarded 16th after Singh had cut a 6-up deficit in half. Earlier Friday, Macy Pate completed a 22-hole Round-of-64 victory over Ana Sofia Murcia by making eagle on the fourth extra hole—the longest match of the championship so far.
What's Next
The Round of 16 resumes Saturday at 7 a.m. ET. The quarterfinals and semifinals will follow as time permits. Golf Channel will carry live coverage from 9 a.m. to noon and again from 3 to 6 p.m. ET. Admission remains free.
Round of 32 · Friday, Aug. 7 · Complete
Rianne Malixi's bid for a second title is over — Yujie Liu ran the 2024 champion down in 19 holes. Farah O'Keefe is gone too, and Asterisk Talley is the only top-three seed left standing. Rachel Heck kept her home-state run alive, and sixteen players advanced to a Round of 16 with the bracket cracked wide open.
Round of 32: Malixi's Bid Ends, Heck Rolls On
The only past champion in the bracket is out. Rianne Malixi, the 2024 winner, took Yujie Liu to a 19th hole before the 16-year-old from China closed it out — ending Malixi's bid to become the first repeat U.S. Women's Amateur champion since Danielle Kang went back-to-back in 2010 and 2011. Two days after crushing Jasmine Koo 6 and 5, Malixi's week is done, and Liu carries the upset into the Round of 16.
Rachel Heck, meanwhile, keeps giving Tennessee a reason to watch. The 61st seed and Memphis native beat Gianna Singh 3 and 2 to reach the Round of 16 in her home state, a round removed from her signature 1-up win over No. 4 Anna Davis. Asterisk Talley remains the class of the field's top seeds — the No. 3 dismantled Rayee Feng 6 and 4, the day's most lopsided result, and is the only player seeded inside the top three still alive.
The upsets didn't stop with Malixi. Farah O'Keefe, the world No. 4 and highest-ranked player in the field, fell to reigning U.S. Girls' Junior champion Clairey Lin 2 and 1 in a heavyweight meeting of the No. 27 and No. 6 seeds. Australia's Ella Scaysbrook (40) knocked off No. 8 Yurina Hiroyoshi 1 up. Lily Peng ended Hsin Chun Liao's Cinderella run 2 and 1, while Ryleigh Knaub, Gabriella Nicastro, Bailey Shoemaker, Seojin Park and Maggie Ma also advanced.
Among the other winners, co-medalist Anna Iwanaga (1) edged Natalie Blonien 1 up, Michelle Xing (16) took the all-underdog battle with Molly Smith 2 and 1, Lindsay McGrath beat Megan Propeck 4 and 2, and Rachel Lee defeated Macy Pate 5 and 3. Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang needed 20 holes to get past Raegan Denton.
| RESULTS · ROUND OF 32 | |
| Yujie Liu (26) d. Rianne Malixi (58) | 19 holes |
| Clairey Lin (6) d. Farah O’Keefe (27) | 2 & 1 |
| Asterisk Talley (3) d. Rayee Feng (30) | 6 & 4 |
| Rachel Heck (61) d. Gianna Singh (36) | 3 & 2 |
| Anna Iwanaga (1) d. Natalie Blonien (32) | 1 up |
| Michelle Xing (16) d. Molly Smith (17) | 2 & 1 |
| Ella Scaysbrook (40) d. Yurina Hiroyoshi (8) | 1 up |
| Seojin Park (24) d. Arianna Lau (9) | 4 & 3 |
| Bailey Shoemaker (23) d. Soomin Oh (10) | 1 up |
| Maggie Ma (43) d. Kylie Chong (11) | 3 & 2 |
| Gabriella Nicastro (44) d. Kylee Choi (12) | 19 holes |
| Lily Peng (34) d. Hsin Chun Liao (63) | 2 & 1 |
| Lindsay McGrath (50) d. Megan Propeck (18) | 4 & 2 |
| Ryleigh Knaub (28) d. Anna Fang (60) | 2 & 1 |
| Rachel Lee (51) d. Macy Pate (19) | 5 & 3 |
| Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang (52) d. Raegan Denton (45) | 20 holes |
The Round of 16 began Friday afternoon before severe storms stopped play.
Round of 64 · Thursday, Aug. 6 · Suspended by Darkness, 3 Matches Resume 7:15 a.m. Friday
Rachel Heck beat Anna Davis on the 18th green in front of a home-state crowd. A playoff survivor knocked out a 15-year-old co-medalist. And the 2024 champion posted the day’s most lopsided win. The bracket’s opening round was a massacre of seeds — and it still isn’t over.
Round of 64: Heck’s Day in Tennessee
The match of the day was the one everyone circled at breakfast. Rachel Heck, the 24-year-old Memphian and 61st seed playing her ninth U.S. Women’s Amateur — with her parents, her fiancé and a gallery of Tennessee Golf Association juniors following along — went 18 holes with No. 4 seed Anna Davis in a duel of two-time Curtis Cuppers that neither ever led by more than two. Heck fell behind early with a double bogey at the 4th, answered with a birdie, and traded blows the rest of the way: 2 up through nine, pulled back to even by Davis birdies at 11 and 13, ahead again with a stuffed tee shot at the par-3 14th. Davis birdied 17 to stay alive and Heck’s matching try burned the edge — but at the last, Davis’ chip came up short, her par putt slid by, and Heck two-putted for her first match win in this championship since her 2023 quarterfinal run. She said afterward the racing heart down the stretch was exactly what she came back to amateur golf to feel.
The day’s other headline belonged to Hsin Chun Liao. The 63rd seed from Chinese Taipei began Thursday by surviving a five-hole, nine-for-two playoff just to reach the bracket — then eliminated 15-year-old co-medalist Hailey Kim, 1 up, hours after Kim had finished off a 67 for a share of the stroke-play title. Remarkably, it’s the second straight year the No. 63 seed has beaten the No. 2 seed; last year’s 63, Ella Scaysbrook, won again Thursday too, taking out Jude Lee 3 and 2. The other playoff survivor, Addison Klonowski, gave co-medalist Anna Iwanaga a game before falling 2 and 1.
Rianne Malixi delivered the round’s most emphatic statement: a 6-and-5 dismantling of No. 7 seed Jasmine Koo, the largest margin of the day. The 2024 champion, who survived the cut with a single shot to spare, birdied the first hole and never looked back — and says she feels freer this year than she did as the hunted No. 1 seed at Bandon Dunes. The seed carnage didn’t stop there: Rachel Lee (51) outlasted world No. 7 Aphrodite Deng in 19 holes, Lindsay McGrath (50) routed Jaclyn LaHa 6 and 4, and Anna Fang (60) beat North & South champion Mary Miller 2 and 1. In all, at least eleven higher seeds fell — including four of the top ten — on a day interrupted for the second straight afternoon by a 2½-hour storm delay.
The survivors have stories too. Molly Smith, in her fifth U.S. Women’s Amateur and her first match-play appearance, opened with a birdie and rode fifteen straight pars past 2024 Four-Ball champion Sarah Lim, 3 and 2. Asterisk Talley shook off an early deficit to win 4 and 3, Farah O’Keefe steadied herself from all square to a 3-and-2 win, and reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Clairey Lin took the all-Canadian matchup with Vanessa Borovilos 2 and 1.
| NOTABLE RESULTS · ROUND OF 64 | |
| Rachel Heck (61) d. Anna Davis (4) | 1 up |
| Hsin Chun Liao (63) d. Hailey Kim (2) | 1 up |
| Rianne Malixi (58) d. Jasmine Koo (7) | 6 & 5 |
| Rachel Lee (51) d. Aphrodite Deng (14) | 19 holes |
| Anna Iwanaga (1) d. Addison Klonowski (64) | 2 & 1 |
| Asterisk Talley (3) d. Makayla Grübb (62) | 4 & 3 |
| Farah O’Keefe (27) d. Amy Hodgkins (38) | 3 & 2 |
| Clairey Lin (6) d. Vanessa Borovilos (59) | 2 & 1 |
| Lindsay McGrath (50) d. Jaclyn LaHa (15) | 6 & 4 |
| Anna Fang (60) d. Mary Miller (5) | 2 & 1 |
| Also advancing: Hiroyoshi (2&1), Xing (3&2), Smith (3&2), Oh (1 up), Shoemaker (4&2), Choi (2 up), Lau (19 holes), Feng (3&1), Liu (2 up), Propeck (5&4), Peng (1 up), Scaysbrook (3&2), Park (1 up), Knaub (5&4), Blonien (2&1), Nicastro (5&4), Denton (5&4), Singh (1 up), Chaisilprungruang (2&1) | |
Round of 64: The Real Championship Begins
Stroke play sorted the seeds; now the matches decide everything. Sixty-four players opened match play Thursday at The Honors Course, where every round from here through Saturday’s semifinals is 18 holes of sudden finality — and Sunday’s final stretches to 36.
The top of the bracket belongs to the co-medalists: Anna Iwanaga (67-71) and 15-year-old Hailey Kim, whose Thursday-morning 67 forced the tie at 6-under 138. Asterisk Talley, the No. 3 seed after a 70-69, brings the field’s best match-play résumé — a 2024 finalist here and reigning Four-Ball champion. Anna Davis, seeded fourth, arrives with four straight match-play appearances and Augusta National caddie master David Reynolds on the bag. And lurking in the bottom half of the draw as one of the last seeds in: 2024 champion Rianne Malixi, who survived the cut on the number at 4 over and remains the only past champion in the bracket.
The final two places went to a nine-for-two sudden-death playoff at the par-4 10th. Hsin Chun Liao and Addison Klonowski claimed the last two seeds after a five-hole playoff.
| Thu., Aug. 6 | Round of 64 — TV: Golf Channel, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. ET |
| Fri., Aug. 7 | Round of 32 and Round of 16 — Golfchannel.com, 3–6 p.m. ET |
| Sat., Aug. 8 | Quarterfinals and semifinals — Golf Channel, 9 a.m.–12 p.m. and 3–6 p.m. ET |
| Sun., Aug. 9 | 36-hole championship match, 8:30 a.m. — Golf Channel, 3–6 p.m. ET |
Round of 64 results will be posted here as matches finish.
Round 2 · Wednesday, Aug. 5 · Suspended by Darkness, Resumes 7:15 a.m. Thursday
A 2½-hour storm delay pushed the second round into the dark, and it ended at 8:43 p.m. with Anna Iwanaga in the clubhouse at 6 under — and a 15-year-old tied with her, one hole from finishing. Thirty-one players return Thursday morning to settle the round, the cut and the bracket.
Round 2: Iwanaga Sets the Target, and a 15-Year-Old Matches It in the Dark
Anna Iwanaga’s lead survived a stumble, a storm and a sunset. The 18-year-old from Japan played her first five holes Wednesday in 2 over, then leaned on the short-iron precision she credits for her comfort on this water-guarded Pete Dye layout, coming home in 2 under for a 71 and a 36-hole total of 6-under 138. She finished just before the horn sounded for darkness at 8:43 p.m. The only player still with her is 15-year-old Hailey Kim, 5 under on her round with one hole to play Thursday morning — medalist honors ride on it.
Anna Davis held the clubhouse lead for much of the afternoon after the day’s steadiest round, a three-birdie-on-the-back 69 built on fairways and greens. At 4-under 140, the rising Auburn senior and two-time Curtis Cupper locked up her fourth straight U.S. Women’s Amateur match-play appearance in what she has acknowledged is likely her last start in the championship — and she’ll have a familiar hand on the bag, Augusta National caddie master David Reynolds. Asterisk Talley joined her at 4 under with four holes to play.
Clairey Lin’s bogey-free 70 put the reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion at 3-under 141 — she’s chasing history as just the 10th player to win the Girls’ Junior and the Women’s Amateur. Jasmine Koo’s 69 matched her there, and Mary Miller, the recent North & South champion from Ole Miss, ran off five late birdies for a 68. The low rounds of the day came from the 2-under group: Kylie Chong — playing her first U.S. Women’s Amateur with USC assistant coach Beth Wu caddieing — and Kylee Choi each shot 5-under 67. The day’s hardest fall belonged to Madison Dabagia, who followed her opening 69 with an 84.
| POS | PLAYER | TOTAL |
| T1 | Anna Iwanaga (Japan) | -6 (67-71—138) |
| T1 | Hailey Kim (USA) | -6 (thru 17) |
| T3 | Anna Davis (USA) | -4 (71-69—140) |
| T3 | Asterisk Talley (USA) | -4 (thru 14) |
| T5 | Clairey Lin (Canada) | -3 (71-70—141) |
| T5 | Jasmine Koo (USA) | -3 (72-69—141) |
| T5 | Mary Miller (USA) | -3 (73-68—141) |
| T8 | At -2: Aphrodite Deng (71-71), Yurina Hiroyoshi (70-72), Arianna Lau (72-70), Jazy Roberts (72-70), Kylie Chong (75-67), Kylee Choi (75-67) | |
Cut Watch · Top 64 Advance
The projected line sits at 5 over par, with a 15-player logjam at 4 over just inside it. Rianne Malixi is the headliner there: the 2024 champion birdied two of her last five holes for a bounce-back 71 that has her positioned to advance — or, at worst, join a playoff. Memphis’s own Rachel Heck is at 4 over too, alongside Curtis Cuppers Katie Li and Anna Fang. Ina Kim-Schaad sits one shot outside the projected number at 6 over with two holes to play. If a playoff is needed, it goes sudden death beginning at No. 10 before the Round of 64 starts mid-morning. Among the notable misses: Lauren Kim and Chloe Kovelesky at 8 over, plus Tennesseans Molly Hardwick and Hanley Long.
Round 2 resumes at 7:15 a.m. Thursday with 31 players still to finish, followed by the cut, any playoff, and the Round of 64.
Round 1 Complete · Tuesday, Aug. 4
Anna Iwanaga posted a 5-under 67 in the morning and watched it hold up all day. The 2024 champion shot 77. The cut line is already squeezing some familiar names.
Round 1: Iwanaga’s 67 Sets the Pace
Anna Iwanaga made the first U.S. Women’s Amateur round ever played at The Honors Course look more inviting than it was. The 18-year-old from Japan, No. 19 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, posted 5-under 67 with the morning wave — and nobody got within two of it the rest of the day. On a Pete Dye layout that surrendered only 20 sub-par rounds all Tuesday, it was the kind of number that plays even bigger than it reads.
Madison Dabagia of the United States and Chinese Taipei’s Jie-En Lin share second at 69, Lin grinding out birdies late in the afternoon to get there. Five players sit another shot back at 70: Asterisk Talley and Soomin Oh from the morning wave — Oh reached 4 under before giving two back at the finish — plus Michelle Xing, Yurina Hiroyoshi and Jaclyn LaHa, who was 3 under with two to play before a late bogey.
The group at 71 is where the seeds got planted. Farah O’Keefe, the world No. 4 and highest-ranked player in the field, reached 2 under before a bogey coming home. She’s joined by Aphrodite Deng, 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Anna Davis, reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Clairey Lin, Madeleine Conser — who touched 3 under through nine — and seven others in a twelve-deep tie for ninth.
| POS | PLAYER | SCORE |
| 1 | Anna Iwanaga (Japan) | 67 (-5) |
| T2 | Madison Dabagia (USA) | 69 (-3) |
| T2 | Jie-En Lin (Chinese Taipei) | 69 (-3) |
| T4 | Asterisk Talley (USA) | 70 (-2) |
| T4 | Soomin Oh (Republic of Korea) | 70 (-2) |
| T4 | Michelle Xing (Canada) | 70 (-2) |
| T4 | Yurina Hiroyoshi (Japan) | 70 (-2) |
| T4 | Jaclyn LaHa (USA) | 70 (-2) |
| T9 | Twelve players at 71 (-1): Farah O’Keefe, Aphrodite Deng, Anna Davis, Clairey Lin, Madeleine Conser, Katie Li, Anna Fang, Molly Smith, Hailey Kim, Samantha Whateley, Meg Tilma, Isla McDonald-O’Brien | |
Round 2 coverage will be added here Wednesday as the field chases the low 64.
| Venue | The Honors Course, Ooltewah, Tenn. |
| Dates | Aug. 4-9, 2026 (practice rounds Aug. 2-3) |
| Setup | 6,539 yards, par 36-36—72 |
| Field | 156 players from 33 states and 16 countries; 1,422 entries accepted |
| Format | 36 holes stroke play, cut to low 64, five rounds of match play, 36-hole final |
| Eligibility | Handicap Index of 2.4 or lower; no age limit |
| Trophy | Robert Cox Trophy and the JoAnne Carner Medal |
A Championship Without a Champion to Chase
Megha Ganne will not be at The Honors Course. The 2025 champion, who beat Brooke Biermann 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final at Bandon Dunes for her first USGA title in her seventh U.S. Women's Amateur start, has since turned professional and now plays the Epson Tour.
The top of the world ranking has thinned out too. The highest-ranked player in this field is Farah O'Keefe at No. 4, meaning the three amateurs ahead of her in the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking are not teeing it up in Ooltewah. What is left is a bracket without an obvious favorite — and a field where the 40th seed has a real path to Sunday.
The Contenders
Farah O'Keefe · WAGR No. 4
The 21-year-old from Austin is the highest-ranked player in the field and arguably the hottest. The Texas junior won the 2026 NCAA Division I individual championship — just the third Longhorn ever to do it — and took the ANNIKA Award as the nation's top collegiate player after four wins. At the Curtis Cup she went 5-0, becoming only the fifth American to run the table in a single Match. Add a share of low-amateur honors at the Chevron Championship, a T-34 at the U.S. Women's Open and a runner-up finish at the 2025 Women's Amateur Championship, and the résumé is missing exactly one thing.
Rianne Malixi · WAGR No. 10
The 2024 champion is the only past winner in the field, and she has unfinished business from last summer. The 19-year-old from the Philippines earned co-medalist honors at Bandon Dunes and then lost in the Round of 64 as the No. 1 seed — the oldest cruelty in match play. In 2024 she became just the second player to win the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Girls' Junior in the same year, joining Eun Jeong Seong. Her Duke freshman season was one of the best in program history: WGCA First-Team All-America, WGCA National Freshman of the Year, ACC Freshman of the Year, a 70.60 scoring average and a third-place finish at the NCAA Championship. No one has won this championship twice since Danielle Kang went back-to-back in 2010 and 2011.
Asterisk Talley · WAGR No. 8
Third appearance, and she has already been runner-up (2024) and co-medalist (2025). The 17-year-old from Chowchilla, Calif., made USGA history in 2024 as the first player to reach three finals in a single year, winning the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball with Sarah Lim while finishing second at both this championship and the U.S. Girls' Junior. She opened 2026 with wins at the Fortinet Stanford Invitational and the Girls' Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, added a top-10 at the Augusta National Women's Amateur and tied for 21st at the U.S. Women's Open. Stanford gets her in the fall of 2027. This is the trophy that would settle the argument.
Aphrodite Deng · WAGR No. 7
The 16-year-old Canadian is exempt as the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior champion and has done nothing but climb since. She played the Augusta National Women's Amateur, won the junior portion of the Mizuho Americas Open for a second straight year, and tied for 17th at the U.S. Women's Open — the best finish of any player in this field. She was the 2025 AJGA Player of the Year.
Soomin Oh · WAGR No. 9
The 17-year-old finished third at the Augusta National Women's Amateur with a closing bogey-free 68, and has been second at nearly everything else: runner-up at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific, the Chinese Taipei Women's Amateur and the LET's Women's New South Wales Open. In 2025 she defended both the Korean Women's Amateur and the Queen Sirikit Cup while helping Korea finish runner-up at the Women's World Amateur Team Championship.
Clairey Lin
Fresh off the U.S. Girls' Junior at Old Chatham, where she earned medalist honors and then won six straight matches, closing out Amelie Zalsman 5 and 4. The 16-year-old became the second Canadian in as many years to take that trophy, following Deng. She is committed to Stanford for the fall of 2028 and makes her U.S. Women's Amateur debut here. Zalsman is in this field too.
The Rest of the Curtis Cup Contingent
Seven Curtis Cup players are entered. Beyond O'Keefe and Talley, that means Anna Davis (2024, 2026), the 2022 ANWA champion and rising Auburn senior; Jasmine Koo (2024, 2026), ranked 14th in the world; Rachel Heck (2021, 2022); Avery Weed (2026), O'Keefe's foursomes partner in the decisive Saturday point at Bel-Air; and Isla McDonald-O'Brien, who played for Great Britain and Ireland.
The World Ranking, In Full
Twelve players in the field sit inside the top 20 of the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking as of July 29 — and the Japanese contingent is deeper than the headlines suggest, with three players ranked 19th or better.
| Rank | Player |
| 4 | Farah O'Keefe |
| 7 | Aphrodite Deng |
| 8 | Asterisk Talley |
| 9 | Soomin Oh |
| 10 | Rianne Malixi |
| 12 | Aira Nagasawa |
| 13 | Yurina Hiroyoshi |
| 14 | Jasmine Koo |
| 16 | Lauren Kim |
| 18 | Vanessa Borovilos |
| 19 | Anna Iwanaga |
| 20 | Yujie Liu |
Six Who Have Been Close
Champions get the headlines. This field also contains six players who have stood on the wrong side of a USGA trophy presentation, and a few of them have done it more than once.
Sue Wooster has finished runner-up at the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur four times — 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2025. At 64, the Australian is the oldest player in this field and, by some distance, the one with the longest wait. Asterisk Talley lost two USGA finals in the same summer of 2024, at this championship and the U.S. Girls' Junior. Rianne Malixi was runner-up at the 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior before winning it a year later. Hanley Long was second at last year's U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, and Kaitlyn Schroeder and Bailey Shoemaker were both runners-up at the 2022 U.S. Women's Four-Ball.
Who Has Been Inside the Ropes
Nine players in the field teed it up at the 2026 U.S. Women's Open Presented by Ally at Riviera. Three of them made the cut, and all three are in the world's top 10.
| Player | Finish |
| Aphrodite Deng | T17 |
| Asterisk Talley | T22 |
| Farah O'Keefe | T34 |
| Paula Francisco | MC |
| Lauren Kim | MC |
| Ina Kim-Schaad | MC |
| Chloe Kovelesky | MC |
| Jie-En Lin | MC |
| Soomin Oh | MC |
The Development Pipeline
The USGA now runs the U.S. National Development Program, and 10 of its members are in this field — a useful preview of which Americans the governing body expects to be carrying the flag in Curtis Cups and World Amateur Team Championships for the next decade.
Five come from the U.S. National Junior Team: Grace Carter, Anna Fang, Jude Lee, Asterisk Talley and Amelie Zalsman, the U.S. Girls' Junior runner-up. Five more are in the Elite Amateur Program: Anna Davis, Jasmine Koo, Chloe Kovelesky, Farah O'Keefe and Scarlett Schremmer. Talley is the only player in the field who has come through the junior side while already ranked inside the world's top 10.
The Tennessee Three
Three players in the field call Tennessee home, and each arrived by a different road.
Rachel Heck, 24, of Memphis is the most decorated amateur here and the most interesting story in the field. Nine collegiate wins at Stanford. The 2021 NCAA individual championship, the ANNIKA Award, the Honda Sport Award and WGCA Player of the Year — all as a freshman. A national team title in 2022. Two Curtis Cups, both American victories. She has twice reached the semifinals of this championship, in 2021 and 2023, and this is her ninth U.S. Women's Amateur start, the most of anyone in the field, and her 13th USGA championship overall. She first played the U.S. Women's Open at 15, tying for 33rd as the youngest player in the field. These days she works in New York, serves as a second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve Command, and runs Caddie Corner, a business where she paints and sells her own artwork. She made her broadcast debut at the U.S. Girls' Junior at Old Chatham a few weeks ago. Now she is playing a USGA championship in her home state.
Molly Hardwick, 22, of Nashville earned her place by winning the Tennessee Women's Amateur in July. She returns to the College of Charleston this fall for a fifth season after being named 2026 CAA Golfer of the Year, with a 71.7 scoring average, five top-10s and a career-low 65 in her first collegiate win at the Edisto Island Invitational. Twelve years ago she was a finalist at the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals at Augusta National.
Hanley Long, 29, of Clarksville is making her U.S. Women's Amateur debut after a professional career and a return to amateur status. She left Middle Tennessee State as the program's all-time leader in stroke average and the 2019 Conference USA Player of the Year. Last year she was runner-up at the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur at Monterey Peninsula. She works as a senior analyst for a mortgage lender in Atlanta — and once coached Korn Ferry Tour pro Blades Brown at Brentwood Academy.
Fifty Years, One Bracket
The average age in the field is 19.9. The range is considerably wider than that.
Maggie Jiayi Ma of Irvine, Calif., is 14. Sue Wooster of Australia is 64 — a four-time U.S. Senior Women's Amateur runner-up who has spent a decade knocking on that door. Between them sit Lara Tennant, 59, of Portland, Ore., who has won the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur three times, and Dawn Woodard, 51, of Greenville, S.C., the reigning Senior Women's Amateur champion. Ten players in this field are 15 or younger. Four are over 40. Match play does not check birth certificates.
| 14-15 | 10 players |
| 16-17 | 41 players |
| 18-19 | 37 players |
| 20-22 | 59 players |
| 23-30 | 5 players |
| 41-64 | 4 players |
Nine USGA Champions
Nine players in the field have already won a USGA title, and their trophies span five different championships and three generations.
| Rianne Malixi | 2024 U.S. Women's Amateur, 2024 U.S. Girls' Junior |
| Lara Tennant | 2018, 2019, 2021 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur |
| Ina Kim-Schaad | 2019, 2025 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur |
| Aphrodite Deng | 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior |
| Clairey Lin | 2026 U.S. Girls' Junior |
| Asterisk Talley | 2024 U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball |
| Morgan Ellison | 2026 U.S. Women's Four-Ball |
| Sarah Lim | 2024 U.S. Women's Four-Ball |
| Dawn Woodard | 2025 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur |
Under the Radar
Alexis Vakasiuola, 18, of San Tan Valley, Ariz. won the Arizona Women's Amateur in June to earn her spot. She was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year at Grand Canyon, set the program's single-season scoring record, won the GCU Invitational and tied for 11th at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional as an individual qualifier. Born in Pago Pago, American Samoa, she has represented Tonga internationally and won gold at the 2023 South Pacific Games.
Scarlett Schremmer, 19, of Birmingham, Ala. won the 2026 Women's Southern Amateur and reached the Round of 16 here last year. She grew up surfing in Hawaii alongside two sisters who competed professionally and did not pick up golf until she was 12, following her mother, former pro Patricia Ehrhart. Now at Miami after starting at Texas A&M, she is a member of the USGA's Elite Amateur Program.
Yujie Liu, 16, of China won the Guangdong Women's Open on the China LPGA Tour by five shots in 2025 and tied for 12th at the Blue Bay LPGA against a full professional field this year. She made the cut at the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific at age 12.
Where They Come From
California sends 25 players, more than double any other state. Florida follows with 13 and Texas with 11, then Georgia and North Carolina with seven each and Arizona and New Jersey with six. Thirty-three states are represented in all.
Sixteen countries are on the entry list. Canada leads the international contingent with eight, followed by Australia with six, China and Japan with five apiece and Korea with four. Chinese Taipei and England have two each; Colombia, Hong Kong, Latvia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain and Sweden are represented by a single player.
Florida has the most active college players in the field with five, followed by Texas with four and USC and Wake Forest with three each.
The Golf Course
The Honors Course opened on July 2, 1983, a Pete Dye design at the foot of White Oak Mountain outside Chattanooga, built by Coca-Cola bottling heir Jack Lupton for a single purpose: amateur golf. Gil Hanse refined the layout roughly four years ago. It has never hosted a U.S. Women's Amateur.
The land carries more history than the golf. Archaeological work on the property traces back to Cherokee settlement in the 1500s. The site later became part of the Chattanooga DuPont plant and, in 1912, the Atlas Powder Company — a DuPont munitions spin-off. A fatal explosion in 1945 ended powder manufacturing there for good.
At 6,539 yards it will not overpower anyone. What it will do is ask questions: a 132-yard 14th and a 148-yard 16th that will play as birdie-or-bogey coin flips in match play, a 551-yard 11th and a reachable 494-yard 17th that hand the momentum back and forth on the closing stretch.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | OUT |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 |
| Yards | 386 | 504 | 176 | 403 | 425 | 545 | 376 | 167 | 352 | 3,328 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | IN |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 36 |
| Yards | 407 | 551 | 325 | 384 | 132 | 378 | 148 | 494 | 392 | 3,211 |
Yardages subject to change.
Schedule
| Tue., Aug. 4 | First round, stroke play |
| Wed., Aug. 5 | Second round, stroke play; playoff for the final match-play spots if needed |
| Thu., Aug. 6 | Round of 64 |
| Fri., Aug. 7 | Round of 32 and Round of 16 |
| Sat., Aug. 8 | Quarterfinals and semifinals |
| Sun., Aug. 9 | 36-hole championship match, beginning 8:30 a.m. |
How to Watch
At least 15 hours of live coverage. All times ET.
| Thu., Aug. 6 | 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Golf Channel |
| Fri., Aug. 7 | 3 – 6 p.m., Golfchannel.com |
| Sat., Aug. 8 | 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 3 – 6 p.m., Golf Channel |
| Sun., Aug. 9 | 3 – 6 p.m., Golf Channel |
Admission is free all week and no ticket is required. The course opens to spectators at 7 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. Thursday, and 7 a.m. Friday through Sunday.
What the Winner Gets
The JoAnne Carner Medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year
Exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open Presented by Ally at Inverness Club
Exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Women's Amateurs and 10 U.S. Girls' Juniors, if eligible
A likely invitation to the 2027 Augusta National Women's Amateur
Likely exemptions into The Chevron Championship, the AIG Women's Open and the Amundi Evian Championship
Her name on the 2026 USGA Champions' plaque in the USGA Museum's Hall of Champions
The Trophy's History
First played in 1895, one of the USGA's three original championships, contested every year since except 1917-18 and 1942-45. Glenna Collett Vare won it six times, a record that has stood for nearly a century. JoAnne Gunderson Carner won five, and her eight USGA titles overall tie Jack Nicklaus, trailing only Bob Jones and Tiger Woods at nine.
Repeat winners have been a defining pattern. Beatrix Hoyt, Alexa Stirling, Vare, Virginia Van Wie and Juli Inkster all won three in a row. Genevieve Hecker, Dorothy Campbell, Margaret Curtis, Betty Jameson, Kay Cockerill, Kelli Kuehne and Danielle Kang each went back-to-back. The list of past champions also runs through Patty Berg, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Louise Suggs, Marlene Stewart Streit, Anne Quast Sander, Barbara McIntire, Catherine Lacoste, Carol Semple Thompson, Beth Daniel, Morgan Pressel and Lydia Ko.
USGA Championships at The Honors Course
This is the seventh, and the club is already down for the 2031 U.S. Amateur — back for the first time in 40 years.
| 1991 | U.S. Amateur — Mitch Voges |
| 1994 | Curtis Cup — halved; GB&I retained |
| 2005 | U.S. Mid-Amateur — Kevin Marsh |
| 2011 | U.S. Senior Women's Amateur — Terri Frohnmayer |
| 2016 | U.S. Junior Amateur — Min Woo Lee |
| 2024 | U.S. Senior Amateur — Louis Brown |
This is the 18th USGA championship and the fourth U.S. Women's Amateur held in Tennessee, following Memphis Country Club in 1937 (Estelle Lawson Page) and 1979 (Carolyn Hill) and The Golf Club of Tennessee in 2018 (Kristen Gillman). With seven, The Honors Course has hosted more USGA championships than any other venue in the state.
Where It Goes Next
| 2027 | Pinehurst No. 2, Village of Pinehurst, N.C. |
| 2028 | Brae Burn Country Club, West Newton, Mass. |
| 2029 | Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, Mich. |
| 2030 | The Olympic Club, San Francisco |
| 2031 | Baltimore Country Club |
| 2032 | Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Bandon, Ore. |
AmateurGolf.com will have live coverage from The Honors Course all week — stroke-play leaderboards, the full match-play bracket, and daily updates from Ooltewah beginning Aug. 4.
| Pos | Player | From | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Asterisk Talley | CA | 1,800 |
| Runner-Up | Anna Iwanaga | Japan | 1,600 |
| Semifinals | Gabi Nicastro | AL | 900 |