Asterisk Talley cruises to dominant U.S. Women’s Amateur victory: ANWA runner-up nabs second USGA title

OOTELAH, Tenn. (AP) — California teenager Asterisk Talley picked up her biggest win yet Sunday when she surged past Anna Iwanaga of Japan for an 8-and-6 victory to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

The 17-year-old Talley earned her second USGA title before even leaving high school. She also teamed to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in 2024, the same year she was runner-up in the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Junior Girls.

There was no stopping her at The Honors Course once she began to pull away.

Iwanaga, who shared the medalist honors during the 36-hole qualifying, won the ninth hole in the morning for a 1-up lead. But that was the last hole Iwanaga won.

Talley squared the match with a birdie on the 11th, and she birdied the next two holes and never looked back. Talley was 3 up after the morning 18, won the first hole of the afternoon round and stretched her lead to 7 up when she chipped in for eagle on the par-5 11th, the 29th of the 36-hole match. She two-putted for par on the reachable 12th hole to close out the match.

“I knew I had to come out strong and then come out strong in the afternoon match,” Talley said. “I didn’t want it to get too close. I only had one bogey, so I was eliminating mistakes out there.”

Talley was runner-up at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2025, and she was in a battle for the title this year at the home of the Masters until a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 12th hole.

She has committed to play her college golf at Stanford next year after graduating high school.

“This completes my amateur career,” she said of U.S. Women’s Amateur, which dates to 1895. “This is one of the biggest events to ever win. This is going to be top of my list.”

The victory gets Talley into the U.S. Women’s Open next year at Inverness Club in Ohio.