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.
