3 Things to Know: 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship

At a course revered for its place in the amateur game, 156 of the world's top female amateurs will descend on southeastern Tennessee for the chance to hoist the illustrious Robert Cox Trophy.

The Honors Course, in Ooltewah – pronounced OOL-tuh-wah – Tenn., will play host to the 126th U.S. Women's Amateur. When the championship was last contested in the Volunteer State eight years ago, Kristen Gillman emerged victorious at The Golf Club of Tennessee, in Kingston Springs. 

With a mission solely dedicated to elevating amateur golf, The Honors Course will stand true to its motto, "Honoring Amateur Golf," this week. Many premier national and regional competitions have been contested at the Pete Dye design, including six USGA championships dating to the 1991 U.S. Amateur. Tiger Woods also won the NCAA Men’s Division I Championship individual title in 1996 despite a final-round 80. That’s a testament to the test that awaits the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur field. 

Eight of the top 15 players in the latest World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR® are competing, led by the championship's top-ranked player, No. 4 Farah O'Keefe. The field also includes 14-year-old Maggie Jiayi Ma, of Irvine, Calif. From the highest-ranked player in the field to the youngest, every competitor arrives with the same goal: add her name to the distinguished list of U.S. Women’s Amateur champions that includes six-time winner Glenna Collett Vare, five-time champion JoAnne Carner, three-time winner Juli Inkster, Lydia Ko and Rose Zhang.

The winner earns an exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women's Open Presented by Ally at the Inverness Club, an invitation into the 2027 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and likely exemptions into The Chevron Championship, AIG Women's Open and Amundi Evian Championship.

Before a champion is crowned, however, here are three things to know going into Tuesday’s opening round of stroke play:

One Heck of a Résumé

At 24 years old, Rachel Heck has one of the most decorated careers in amateur golf. 

The Tennessee native was a prodigy from a young age, tying for 33rd in her first U.S. Women’s Open (2017) at the age of 15. 

After checking off nearly every box junior golf had to offer, she joined Coach Anne Walker’s Stanford Cardinal team for the 2020-21 season. As a first-year, Heck did something not even Tiger Woods was able to accomplish on The Farm, winning the NCAA Individual title as a freshman.  

That year she also accumulated six individual tournament wins (the most in program history), became the third woman to sweep the postseason in NCAA history, led the USA to a comeback win in the 2021 Curtis Cup and won the ANNIKA Award as the top collegiate female golfer. 

It was one of the most dominant years in the history of collegiate/amateur golf.

What made her debut college season even more impressive was everything she balanced away from the course. Heck always knew she wanted to be part of something bigger than herself. That mindset led her to Stanford's Air Force ROTC program, where she juggled military training while attending one of the nation's most rigorous academic universities and competing on the country's top-ranked women's golf program.

Following her historic freshman year, Heck secured two more individual victories as a sophomore before a litany of injuries and sickness plagued her ability to play golf for the better part of two seasons. She eventually returned to form her senior year, securing her ninth victory at the 2024 NCAA Cle Elum (Wash.) Regional, tying her for the second most in program history.  

Amid the turbulence of her college career, Heck rediscovered a passion for life beyond competitive golf.

Following her graduation with a degree in political science, she joined the private equity firm KKR as a full-time analyst, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Air Force and graduated at the top of her class from the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md.

Graduation didn't mark the end of Heck's pursuit of new challenges; it marked the beginning of an entirely new chapter. She launched her own company, Caddie Club, creating artwork inspired by the experiences that shaped her, got engaged, stepped into broadcasting as an on-course analyst for Golf Channel's coverage of the 2026 U.S. Girls' Junior and, perhaps most importantly, found her way back to competitive amateur golf.

In addition to balancing off-course responsibilities, she appeared in last year's Augusta National Women's Amateur and the U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes. So far in 2026, she's competed in two events, most recently recording a top-10 finish in the 99th Ladies National Golf Association Amateur. 

The 2026 U.S. Women's Amateur will provide Heck with a rare chance to compete at the highest level of amateur golf in her home state, something she hasn't done in several years.

The Missing Piece

Farah O'Keefe has accomplished virtually everything there is to accomplish in women's amateur golf.

She became just the fourth player in Curtis Cup history to go 5-0 in the USA’s win two months ago at Bel-Air Country Club, claimed an NCAA individual title, earned low-amateur honors at two LPGA majors (The Chevron Championship, Amundi Evian Championship), made the cut at a U.S. Women's Open and captured the ANNIKA Award. The list of accomplishments is long, but one major title is still missing from her résumé: a USGA championship.

This year's U.S. Women's Amateur likely gives the rising University of Texas senior one final opportunity before turning professional next summer.

Given her spot in the WAGR, O’Keefe arrives at The Honors Course as one of the championship favorites. 

The Texas Longhorn hasn’t slowed down since capturing the NCAA title in May, tying for 34th at the 81st U.S. Women's Open at The Riviera Country Club, led a Sunday singles charge at the Curtis Cup Match at Bel-Air Country Club, advanced to the semifinals of The Women's Amateur Championship at Muirfield in Scotland, and most recently, finished as the low amateur (T-35) in the Amundi Evian Championship, in France.

Nevertheless, there will be plenty of challengers, including 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior champion Aphrodite Deng (No. 7), Talley (No. 8), Korean Soomin Oh (No. 9) and Rianne Malixi (No. 10).

Malixi Hat Trick?

You'd be hard-pressed to find a player in the field who had a better 2024 season than Rianne Malixi.

That year, the then-17-year-old accomplished something few players in history have ever achieved, winning two USGA championships in the same season. Weeks after claiming the U.S. Girls' Junior, she defeated Asterisk Talley yet again in the U.S. Women's Amateur 36-hole final, 3 and 2, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. The victory made Malixi the first native Filipina to win the U.S. Women's Amateur and just the second player to capture the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur in the same year (Eun Jeong Seong in 2016). Malixi also beat Talley, 8 and 7, in the Girls’ Junior 36-hole final at El Caballero C.C., in Tarzana, Calif.

In addition to her two USGA victories, Malixi won the Women's Australian Masters, recorded a top-five finish at the European Ladies' Amateur Championship and runner-up finishes at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and the Royal Junior in Japan. 

It was truly a season to remember.

With plenty of momentum heading into 2025, the top-ranked junior's plans were derailed by a lower back injury that forced her to withdraw from the Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship and the Augusta National Women's Amateur. She returned for the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes, earning co-medalist honors with Talley before falling in the Round of 64.

While her body had healed, there was still a mental hurdle Malixi still needed to overcome.

"It was holding me back. I didn't want to feel pain. I was scared of getting hurt, like if I pushed myself too hard, then I might feel a pop again,” she told Golf Channel in a 2026 interview.  

Following the summer and months of physical therapy, Malixi arrived at Duke University in the fall of 2025. After shaking off some of the rust, she turned in one of the best freshman campaigns in program history, setting the school record for lowest stroke average (70.60), winning the Sea Best Intercollegiate and earning All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors as well as the ACC Freshman of the Year. She also finished third at the 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, trailing only champion Farah O'Keefe and Megha Ganne.

Now, Malixi has the opportunity to win her third USGA title and join World Golf Hall of Famer JoAnne Gunderson Carner as the only players to win a U.S. Girls' Junior and multiple U.S. Women's Amateurs. Carner won the U.S. Girls' Junior in 1956 and five U.S. Women's Amateur titles before turning pro and winning two U.S. Women’s Opens. Seong remains the only player in USGA history to win multiple U.S. Girls' Junior titles (2015 and 2016) and a U.S. Women's Amateur (2016).

Now, Malixi has a chance to remind fans why she climbed as high as No. 4 in the WAGR just two years ago.

Austin Eames is the USGA’s summer communications/content intern. Email him at aeames@usga.org.