Split Decision: Familiar Foes Malixi, Talley Co-Medalists at Bandon Dunes

A Code Red was issued for Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on Tuesday, and it had nothing to do with a pending storm. Well, an assault did take place at this breathtaking resort on the southwest coast of Oregon that is hosting the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

The weapons were drivers, irons and putters, and it was a group of highly talented golfers doing the damage. It was almost as if Oprah Winfrey made a guest appearance.

You get a birdie. And you get a birdie.

With sunshine and comfortable temperatures engulfing the property hosting its ninth USGA championship, and virtually no wind for the second and final round of stroke play, competitors enjoyed a green-light special to attack the hole locations.

Vanessa Borovilos, a rising Texas A&M sophomore from Canada, carded a 9-under-par 63 for the lowest round in the championship’s history, one better than the 64 posted by Japan’s Yumi Matsubara 12 years ago at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina.

And she wasn’t the medalist.

That belonged to a couple of familiar faces: Rianne Malixi, of the Philippines, and Asterisk Talley, of Chowchilla, Calif. The two teens met in a pair of USGA finals a year ago, including the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and this week they each posted 9-under-par 135. Malixi, 18, an incoming Duke University freshman, followed up her first-round 68 with a 67, while Talley, 16, a member of the U.S. National Junior Team and champion of the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, posted one of six 6-under 66s on Day 2 after an opening-round 69.

University of Southern Carolina rising sophomore Eila Galitsky, of Thailand, backed up an opening-round 70 with a 66 to finish a stroke back.

University of Kansas rising junior Lyla Louderbaugh, of Buffalo, Mo., also carded a second-round 66 to join three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur quarterfinalist and Princeton University rising senior Catherine Rao, of Camarillo, Calif., and Borovilos at 7-under 137.

Gianna Clemente, of Estero, Fla., a member of the U.S. National Elite Amateur Program and the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion, headlined the group two strokes back (138) after registering a second-round 68. Also on that number were 2025 North & South Women’s Amateur runner-up Jazy Roberts (70-68), of Australia, and 2025 Ladies National Golf Association champion and University of Texas rising senior Cindy Hsu, of Chinese Taipei.

In all, 48 competitors finished in red figures in stroke play, with the cut for match play coming at 1-over-par 145. Fifteen golfers will play off for the final six spots in the draw on Wednesday at 7:15 a.m. PDT from No. 10, and, if necessary, go to 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18.

The scoring average for Round 2 was a remarkable 73.27.

“Nothing new,” said Talley, laughing, when informed that Malixi was sharing medalist honors.

These two made history a year ago by becoming the first opponents to play in consecutive USGA finals; Malixi taking both the U.S. Girls’ Junior (8 and 7 at El Caballero C.C.) and U.S. Women’s Amateur (3 and 2 at Southern Hills C.C.).

This is also the first time a defending champion took home medalist honors since Beth Daniel achieved the feat in 1975-76.

“That's a long time ago,” said Malixi.

Both players had opportunities to separate but couldn’t take advantage. Malixi bogeyed No. 8, her 17th of the day and just her second blemish in stroke play, before getting up and down for birdie from left of the green at the par-5 ninth. Talley had a putt inside 20 feet for eagle on No. 9 but settled for a two-putt birdie.

With little wind the entire day, Bandon Dunes, playing at 6,237 yards, became an easy target.

“I was looking at the morning scores and there were some pretty low scores out there,” said Malixi, whose competitive season has been interrupted by back issues that forced withdrawals from several big spring events. “But I was expecting the wind to pick up in the afternoon. Instead, it got warmer, so my ball actually flew further than what I expected. I think, give or take, it was a good setup for me, so I took advantage of it.”

Added Talley, who captured last week’s Junior Girls PGA Championship in Indiana: “I had to take my sweater off on the second hole. So that was different. Pretty much zero wind all day. Very surprising.” 

Coming off a 2-under 70 in breezy conditions on Monday afternoon, a round in which Galitsky felt could have been lower if not for a few three-putts, the 18-year-old, who joined the South Carolina program for the spring semester in 2025, sensed another quality round coming Six birdies and no bogeys later, she was signing for one of the day’s lowest rounds. It could have been one shot lower had the No. 7 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® not missed a 6-footer on the par-5 ninth, her last of the day.

While this is her first USGA championship, she is no stranger to the big stage. In 2023, she captured the Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur and in April, she tied for eighth at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and shared fifth in this year’s NCAA Championships. She’s also won a pair of low-level pro tournaments in Thailand. Her Scottish-born, Thai-based instructor, Scott Goldie, also has been reinforcing lower-trajectory shots to prepare for playing links golf.

“The course is not playing as tough as when the wind gets up,” said Galitsky. “I kind of just wanted to go out there and play even par or a couple under. I had a pretty comfortable spot yesterday [afternoon] with a 2 under (70). Things just kind of went rolling and one thing led to another…I missed a couple of birdie putts, but I wasn’t too mad about that.”

Borovilos’ 10-birdie performance was the best of anyone in the field, and the 63 was one off the USGA female 18-hole mark set by four players in the U.S. Girls’ Junior, most recently by Rose Zhang in 2021. The easy-going, 19-year-old Canadian from the Toronto area admitted she got a few breaks on putts that happened to strike the flagstick in the perfect spot to find the hole. On the par-3 15th, her 26-footer was going to race past the hole only to hit the flagstick and drop.

Just how good was her day? Her fellow competitor, Kelly Xu, shot a 66 and was lapped by Borovilos.

“We were joking about that,” said Borovilos, a 2025 U.S. Women’s Open qualifier who was a quarterfinalist in the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior. “But the pins were fairly gettable today, and if the wind stays down, I expect some more good scores out there.

“I think [the 63] is my record personally, but it's just another day. We have a couple more matches to go this week, so not thinking too much of it.”

Louderbaugh, a left-hander, has seen a big improvement in her game over the past six months. She qualified for last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur but had a quick exit in the Round of 64, falling 7 and 6 to Maisie Filler. In May, she won her first collegiate title, the NCAA Columbus (Ohio) Regional by eight strokes, the same margin of her 2025 Kansas Women’s Amateur triumph that included a course-record 63 in Round 2. That victory exempted the 20-year-old into the field at Bandon Dunes, where her second round on Tuesday included a hole-out from 182 yards for an eagle 2 on the par-4 17th hole, her eighth of the day.

She perfectly struck a 5-iron approach but had no idea where the ball ended up because the three people around the green did not applaud or celebrate. It was only when Louderbaugh approached the putting surface and inquired about the position of her ball that she was told it had gone in the hole. She punctuated her 66 by reaching the par-5 ninth from 248 yards out and comfortably two-putting for birdie from 30 feet.

What’s Next

The playoff to determine the final spots in the match play bracket will begin at 7:15 a.m. PDT. The Round of 64 commences on Wednesday at 9:10 a.m. Match play continues through Sunday’s 36-hole championship match. Golf Channel has live coverage on Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• Rianne Malixi saw her streak of bogey-free golf end at 28 holes following a 4 on the par-3 second hole.
  
  
• All three Oregonians qualified for match play: Kyra Ly (Portland), Natalie Yen (West Linn) and Asia Young (Bend). Ly, an Oregon State rising senior, carded a second-round 65, the second-lowest round of the week. Yen and Young won the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball in May.
  
  
• Kaleiya Romero, of San Jose, Calif., a graduate assistant coach at the University of Oregon, is joining younger sister and world No. 1 Kiara Romero in the draw. Kiara is a rising junior at Oregon and will likely receive the McCormack Medal for being the top player in the WAGR next week. Kaleiya birdied the par-5 ninth, her last of the day, to finish at even-par 144 and avoid the playoff.
  
  
• University of Texas All-American Farah O’Keefe, the runner-up in this year’s Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn Golf Club, in Scotland, rallied from a 2-over 74 in Round 1 to make the cut, carding a 3-under 69 to post 1-under 143. O’Keefe was one of five members of the U.S. National Elite Amateur Program to make the cut with Kiara Romero, Gianna Clemente, Jasmine Koo and Anna Davis.
  
  
• Four USGA champions failed to advance to match play: Sarah Gallagher (2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Shelly Stouffer (2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Kimberly Dinh (2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) and Avery Zweig (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball). Dinh improved by 12 strokes (83-71), but still came up nine strokes off the cutline.
  
  
• Other notables who did not qualify were reigning NCAA Division I individual champion and last year’s medalist/semifinalist Maria Jose Marin (world No. 7), world No. 9 and 2024 USA Curtis Cup competitor Catherine Park, world No. 12 Soomin Oh, No. 17 Lauren Kim, No. 30 and 2024 semifinalist Kendall Todd, No. 33 Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio and No. 39 Emma Kaisa Bunch.
  
  
• Three competitors in this week’s championship will represent their country next month at the Junior Ryder Cup. U.S. National Junior Team members Asterisk Talley and Amelie Zalsman will join U.S. Girls’ Junior semifinalist Rayee Feng on the 12-person U.S. Team that will face Europe at Nassau Country Club and Bethpage State Park’s Black Course (singles session). All three advanced to match play.
  
  
• Amari Avery, a member of the victorious 2022 USA Curtis Cup Team and current Epson Tour professional, caddied for her younger sister, Alona, in the second round. Alona currently plays for UC Irvine. This is Alona’s second USGA championship and first U.S. Women’s Amateur. She made the cut with a 36-hole total of even-par 144.

Quotable

“That’s sick, thank you!” – Vanessa Borovilos when informed her 63 was an 18-hole U.S. Women’s Amateur record

“Today, I think I took a little bit more time on my shots just to make sure I felt completely comfortable over every shot, but once the putts started falling, it was kind of easy to get into that rhythm and enjoy the views where I could, so it was a good day.” -- Borovilos

“I definitely knew I had to take advantage of the weather and the slow-moving wind and really put out a good score to get a good seed in match play.” – Lyla Louderbaugh

“That everyone out here is good enough to win. You’ve just got to show up and play your game and give it all you’ve got.” – Louderbaugh on what she learned from her first-round loss at Southern Hills C.C. last year

“I feel like I am striking the ball very nicely. Putting can use a little work. That’s what I am going to do this afternoon. I am feeling pretty good going into match play.” – Eila Galitsky

“If you ask any of my friends, they'll definitely tell you I'm going at every pin even when I probably shouldn't. I'm definitely really aggressive. I'm just really confident in my iron play. I've always been a really good ball-striker and I've always hit the ball really straight, never really goes too far offline, don't hit a big draw or a big cut, so, yeah, I've just always been really confident.” – Gianna Clemente when asked why she performs so well in match play

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Emai him at dshefter@usga.org.