Inside the Field: 125th U.S. Women's Amateur

WHO’S HERE: A breakdown of the 156 golfers competing in the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Oldest Competitors: Shelly Stouffer, 55, of Canada; Sarah Gallagher, 51, of Canton, Ga.

Youngest Competitor: Jie-En Lin, 14, of Chinese Taipei

Average Age of Field: 19.9

Field breakdown by age:
Age 14-15: 9
Age 16-19: 69
Age 20-25: 73
Age 26-30: 1
Age 31-40: 2
Age 41-60: 2

U.S. States Represented – There are 35 states represented in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur:

California (25), Texas (15), Florida (5), Michigan (5), Missouri (5), New Jersey (5), Tennessee (5), Ohio (4), Arizona (3), Georgia (3), Illinois (3), Massachusetts (3), North Carolina (3), Oregon (3), Pennsylvania (3), South Carolina (3), Colorado (2), Kansas (2), Kentucky (2), Maryland (2), New York (2), Virginia (2), Alabama (1), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Hawaii (1), Indiana (1), Iowa (1), Minnesota (1), Mississippi (1), New Mexico (1), Oklahoma (1), Utah (1), Washington (1)

International – There are 17 countries represented in the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur:

United States of America (118), Canada (10), Australia (3), Chinese Taipei (3), Japan (3), People's Republic of China (3), Hong Kong, China (2), Mexico (2), Republic of Korea (2), Spain (2), Thailand (2), Colombia (1), Denmark (1), France (1), India (1), Philippines (1), South Africa (1)

USGA Champions (12): Gianna Clemente (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Aphrodite Deng (2025 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Kimberly Dinh (2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Sarah Gallagher (2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Sarah Lim (2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Rianne Malixi (2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur), Kiara Romero (2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Shelly Stouffer (2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Natalie Yen (2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Asia Young (2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Avery Zweig (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball)

USGA Runners-up (6): Gianna Clemente (2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Lindsey Gahm (2024 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Rianne Malixi (2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Shelly Stouffer (2024 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur), Keira Yun (2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball)

Curtis Cup Team Members (7): Anna Davis (USA, 2024), Megha Ganne (USA, 2022), Rachel Heck (USA, 2021, 2022), Jasmine Koo (USA, 2024), Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran (USA, 2021, 2022), Catherine Park (USA, 2024), Asterisk Talley (USA, 2024)

U.S. National Junior Team Members (4): Emerie Schartz, Scarlett Schremmer, Asterisk Talley, Amelie Zalsman

U.S. National Elite Amateur Program (6): Gianna Clemente, Anna Davis, Jasmine Koo, Farah O’Keefe, Catherine Park, Kiara Romero

Most U.S. Women’s Amateur Appearances (2025 included): Brooke Seay (8), Megha Ganne (7), Rachel Heck (7), Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran (5)

Top players in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking® as of July 30:

• No. 1 – Kiara Romero
• No. 4 – Maria Jose Marin
• No. 5 – Farah O’Keefe
• No. 7 – Eila Galitsky
• No. 8 – Catherine Park
• No. 9 – Rianne Malixi
• No. 10 – Jasmine Koo
• No. 11 – Megha Ganne
• No. 12 – Soomin Oh
• No. 13 – Anna Davis
• No. 14 – Asterisk Talley
• No. 15 – Carolina Lopez-Chacarra
• No. 17 – Laruen Kim
• No. 19 – Kelly Xu
  

Players from Oregon (3): Kyra Ly (Portland), Natalie Yen (West Linn), Asia Young (Bend)

Colleges with most active players: Texas A&M (6), University of Arkansas (4)

Played in 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally (13): Brooke Biermann (MC), Vanessa Borovilos (MC), Rayee Feng (T51), Kary Hollenbaugh (MC), Katelyn Kong (MC), Sarah Lim (MC), Carolina Lopez-Chacarra (T36), Maria Jose Marin (55), Farah O’Keefe (T36), Rianne Malixi (MC), Kiara Romero (T45), Andie Smith (MC), Asterisk Talley (MC)

Sets of sisters in the field (1): Kaleyia and Kiara Romero

PLAYER NOTES

Bridget Boczar, 21, of Canton, Mich., is a rising junior at Baylor University where she is studying mathematics. She transferred to Baylor after spending her first two seasons at Oakland University near Detroit playing alongside her twin sister, Grace. During her sophomore season, Bridget was the Horizon Player of the Year and tallied three victories. The Boczar twins led the Golden Grizzlies to a Horizon League Championship and an appearance at the 2024 NCAA Regionals. Her brother, Jack, played in the 2016 U.S. Junior Amateur.

Bridget Butler, 20, of Barrington, Ill., is coming off her victory at the 2025 Illinois State Women’s Amateur, earning her exemption into this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur field. After playing competitive softball and basketball during her early years, Butler switched her focus to tournament golf at 14. During her time at Barrington (Ill.) High School, she was a three-time all-conference and all-regional team selection, won the 2022 Illinois Class 2A Individual Regional Champion and helped lead her team to the 2021 state championship. Butler tore her ACL during her senior season, forcing her to redshirt as a freshman at the University of Nebraska. After 11 months of recovery, she returned to competitive play with a statement victory in the Illinois State Women’s Amateur.

Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran, 26, of Charlotte, N.C., is an on-course reporter for NBC Sports, Golf Channel and PGA Tour Live, and a radio host for Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio. During the 2025 season, she served as the play-by-play radio announcer at The Masters and the U.S. Open (called J.J. Spaun’s clinching putt on the 72nd hole), and as an on-course reporter at the PGA Championship. The Wake Forest graduate and four-time All-American helped the Deamon Deacons win the 2023 NCAA Team Championship, the first for the women’s program. Doran qualified for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links where she doubled as a broadcaster for NBC’s featured group coverage. She has represented the USA in two Curtis Cup Matches, won the 2022 North & South Women’s Amateur and was runner-up in the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, losing in a playoff. This will be her fifth U.S. Women’s Amateur. Her mom, Ulrika, played college golf at Arizona with future Hall of Famer and three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam.

Megha Ganne, 21, of Holmdel, N.J., first captured national attention in 2021 when she played her way into the final pairing of the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club, ultimately finishing as the low amateur (T-14). A three-time U.S. Women’s Open qualifier (2019, 2021, 2024), Ganne also represented the USA in the 2022 Curtis Cup. The 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur will mark her seventh appearance in the championship, with her best finish coming in 2019 as a semifinalist. At Stanford University, Ganne earned All-Pac-12 honors as a freshman with four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Carmel Cup. As a sophomore, she claimed her first collegiate win at the Carmel Cup and played a key role in Stanford’s NCAA team title. She added another individual victory in her junior year at the Nanea Invitational and helped Stanford to a national runner-up finish. In 2025, she made history at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, carding a championship-record 63 in the opening round. Ganne is also a four-time national finalist in the Drive, Chip & Putt competition at Augusta National.

Rianne Malixi, 18, of the Philippines, is the defending U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and etched her name in the record books in 2024 by becoming the second player in USGA history to win both the U.S. Women’s Amateur and the U.S. Girls’ Junior in the same year (Eun Jeong Seong in 2016). During the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the Manila native took down Asterisk Talley, 8 and 7, a historic margin of victory for the championship since it went to a 36-hole final in 2006, making 14 birdies against no bogeys over the 29 holes. She also defeated Talley in the Women’s Amateur final at Southern Hills C.C. Malixi was victorious at the 2024 Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs and finished runner-up at the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley ahead of her back-to-back USGA victories. During her 2025 season, she competed in the 2025 U.S Women’s Open Presented by Ally and the Amundi Evian Championship, but had to skip the Augusta National Women’s Amateur due to a back injury. She will attend Duke University in the fall.

Maria Jose Marin, 19, of Colombia, capped off her sophomore season at the University of Arkansas by winning the 2025 NCAA individual championship, carding a 12-under 276 to edge Florida State’s Mirabel Ting by two strokes. Her standout season featured two more individual wins at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational and Puerto Rico Classic, along with two runner-up finishes at the NCAA Columbus (Ohio) Regional and Carmel Cup. She also made the cut at both the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally and the Amundi Evian Championship. Marin was named the 2025 SEC Player of the Year, just one season after earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Her freshman campaign included four top-five finishes, including her first collegiate win at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational and a tie for fourth individually in the 2024 NCAA Championship. At the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa Okla., Marin advanced to the semifinals, before conceding to the eventual runner-up, Asterisk Talley, on the 14th hole due to an injury. She also was a semifinalist in the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior.

Farah O’Keefe, 20, of Austin, Texas, is coming off a runner-up finish at The Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland, falling short in the 36-hole final round, 2 and 1, to Paula Sampedro Martin. Her sophomore season at the University of Texas featured six top-10 finishes and she led Texas to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship, in Carlsbad, Calif. O’Keefe made her second U.S. Women’s Open appearance in 2025, finishing tied for 36th at Erin Hills. During her freshman season, she won the 124th Women’s Western Amateur and was named both the Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year after a campaign that included five top-10 finishes and a win in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. She was the 2022 UIL Class 5A team and individual state champion at Anderson High School. Her father, Michael, played professional tennis and rugby. O’Keefe is a member of the USNDP Elite Amateur Program.

Liv Romer, 20, of Wauconda, Ill., is a former softball player who made the varsity team as a sophomore at Wauconda High School. During the 2020-21 season, she tallied 27 hits, 16 RBI and six home runs in 50 at-bats over 14 games. After tearing her ACL and meniscus during a game, Romer decided to hang up her cleats and switch her focus to golf. Picking up the game at just 15 years of age, she found success at the high school level, winning the 2022 IHSA Regional Championship during her senior season. After her freshman season at West Texas A&M University, she transferred to Palm Beach State College, where she finished 11th in the 2024 NJCAA National Championship. Romer is transferring to the University of Southern Mississippi for her junior campaign this fall.

Kiara Romero, 19, of San Jose, Calif., is coming off an impressive sophomore season at the University of Oregon where she finished in the top eight of every collegiate event she played, including victories at the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional and the Big 10 Women’s Golf Championships. She finished tied for seventh at the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and fired a 7-under 65 during the final round of stroke play at the 2025 NCAA Championship to finish tied for eighth. During her freshman season, she earned All-Pac-12 First Team honors and picked up two individual wins. She defeated Rianne Malixi in the 36-hole final to win the 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at the United States Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado. She played in her second U.S. Women’s Open this year at Erin Hills, making the cut and finishing tied for 45th with an impressive final round of 5-under 67. This will be her third U.S. Women’s Amateur. Romero is also a member of the USNDP Elite Amateur Program. Her older sister, Kaleiya, currently an assistant coach at Oregon, also qualified for this championship.

Emma Schimpf, 22, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., recently concluded a decorated career at the College of Charleston, where she was the Colonial Athletic Association’s Golfer of the Year in 2023 and 2025. She was a member of the All-CAA First Team in each of her four seasons (2022-25) at the school. This will be her third appearance in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Schimpf has six siblings and is not the only collegiate golfer in the family as her sister, Abbey, played Division I golf at UNC Charlotte and Georgia Southern University, where she just finished her redshirt senior season. Abbey competed in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur.

Grace Wang, 19, of Rochester Hills, Mich., is a decorated former competitive figure skater who achieved the highest certification level in free skating from U.S. Figure Skating. She finished fourth at the 2019 U.S. Figure Skating regionals, advancing to the sectional finals. At just 13 years old, Wang was introduced to golf, eventually shifting her focus from the ice to the course. Although she was spending more time than ever on golf, she still found time to join her high school figure skating team, leading Rochester United to back-to-back state championships. On the golf course, Wang made a name for herself at the state level, winning the 2022 Michigan Girls State Junior Amateur, making the Round of 16 at the Michigan Women’s Amateur and finishing tied for 15th at the Michigan PGA Women’s Open. She carried that momentum into the season, helping Rochester Adams win the 2022 MHSAA Division I state championship. Her stellar play earned her a spot on the women’s golf team at the University of Michigan, where she just wrapped up her sophomore season. Wang is making her USGA Championship debut.