What Happened
Typically, experience goes a long way at a major event like the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Just don’t tell that to three of the four semifinalists at Southern Hills Country Club.
A trio of players making their U.S. Women’s Amateur debuts advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, as did a recent USGA champion who, at 17 years old, is making her fourth appearance in the championship this week.
Friday featured the largest turnout of fans so far this week, and they were treated to high-level golf from the eight remaining players. Three of the four matches made it to the 18th green, with two needing extra holes to decide the final four.
The best match of the day was arguably the first, and once again featured Anna Davis, this time against stroke-play medalist and No. 1 seed Maria Jose Marin. Neither player was more than 1 up the entire match and each made their fair share of clutch putts, notably Marin, who made the longest putt of the day on No. 8, a 40-footer for birdie to tie the match before Davis reclaimed the lead at the turn with a par.
Marin squared the match again on the 10th before a bogey on the 15th gave Davis another lead. Down one on the 18th, Marin made par to Davis’ double to not only force a playoff but foreshadow what was to come. Each made par on the first two playoff holes, Nos. 10 and 11, but on the 12th Davis put herself in a tough spot after a tee shot found the left rough under a tree. She hit her approach into the water after Marin found the green, and then hit her fourth shot into the bunker guarding the front of the green. After splashing out from the sand and onto the green with her fifth shot, she picked up and conceded the match to Marin. The 21st hole was the first lead of the day for the rising sophomore at the University of Arkansas, who advanced to the semifinal in her first U.S. Women’s Amateur appearance.
The match between Adela Cernousek and Asterisk Talley looked destined for a runway victory in Talley’s favor, but Cernousek battled back from a 3-down deficit through 11 holes with consecutive birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 to put the pressure on the high school sophomore, who has already enjoyed an incredible summer in USGA championships.
“You know, it was tough out there. I got 3-up going into 11 I think, and then I feel like she just kind of switched the momentum after making a long par putt on 11,” said Talley. “I feel like after that I was trying to keep the momentum on my side, keep trying to make birdies and pars, and it just wasn't really working out. Toward the end I was trying to keep the match on my side, and I didn't want it to get tied because then it would've been in her favor sort of.”
Talley, who seemingly made every clutch putt she needed to, handled the pressure like a seasoned veteran and never lost another hole en route to her 1-up win to set up a meeting with Marin in the semis.
In the third match of the afternoon, Kelly Xu of Stanford claimed an early lead over fellow Arkansas Razorback Kendall Todd with a par on the opening hole and birdie on No. 3 and didn’t give up the lead until the back nine.
“We had a little chat about attitude and staying positive and taking it one shot at time and not getting ahead of myself and there is still a lot of golf to go,” Todd said of a conversation she had with her caddie and boyfriend, Hayden. “We did good on the back nine.”
After Xu made the turn 2 up, Todd got back in the match with birdies at Nos. 10 and 12 to tie the match, but Xu then reclaimed a 1-up lead with three holes to play thanks to a birdie on the par-4 15th. A clutch birdie on the par-5 16th from Todd would eventually send the match to the second playoff of the afternoon. The pair traded pars on the first playoff hole before Todd sealed the deal with a two-putt par for the win after Xu missed the green with her tee shot.
Catherine Rao and Rianne Malixi were back-and-forth on the front nine in the anchor match of the day before Malixi, the recent 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, won three straight holes from Nos. 7-9 to go 2 up at the turn. Rao was visibly frustrated with her performance throughout the round but kept the pressure on Malixi early on the second nine with a win on the par-3 11th with par and matched her every step until the 15th hole, where she made bogey to hand Malixi another 2-up lead with three to play that she saw out for a 2-and-1 win.
“That match was kind of a really hard-fought match. Both of us, me and Catherine, didn't have our A games,” Malixi said of the duel. “I just happened to be a lot more patient than I usually am, so just stuck around there, kept on grinding, and just waited for putts to drop. They didn't, but I was still grinding it out.”
Due to anticipated inclement weather in the forecast, Saturday’s semifinal matches will take place at 8:30 a.m. ET (Marin vs. Talley) and 8:45 a.m. ET (Todd vs. Malixi). The 36-hole final match will then begin Saturday afternoon and conclude on Sunday.
