Anna Iwanaga Holds Clubhouse Lead as Play Suspended in Round 2

A day disrupted by a nearly 2½-hour weather delay and ultimately halted by darkness at the 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur will resume Thursday with Anna Iwanaga holding the clubhouse lead at 6-under 138. Iwanaga, of Japan, completed her second-round 1-under 71 shortly before play was suspended, while Hailey Kim, 15, remains tied with her at 6 under with one hole still to play.  

Iwanaga, who held the Round 1 lead after opening with a 5-under 67, got off to a tough start Wednesday, playing her first five holes in 2-over par. She rebounded with a 2-under back nine to move past Anna Davis, who held the clubhouse lead for much of the afternoon. 

“I [feel very confident in my] short iron,” said Iwanaga about what was the strength of her round. “There are many water hazards here on the golf course, but my strength is short irons, so I can control my distance when I see a water hazard [which helps]. I like this golf course [and feel like it suits my game].”  

Davis, 20, of Spring Valley, Calif., turned in one of the lower rounds of the day to finish stroke play at 4-under 140, good enough for T3 when play was halted. 

The 2022 Augusta National Women's Amateur champion carded a 3-under 69 to move into the clubhouse at 4-under 140 and secure her fourth consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur match-play appearance. Davis shot a 1-under 71 on Tuesday. 

“I feel like I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens,” said Davis of her round. “Hitting the fairways is important out here, and I felt like I was super steady. I saw a couple good putts go in and overall, it was a pretty consistent day.” 

The rising Auburn senior and three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection (2026 second team; 2025 first team; 2024 second team) opened with a birdie on the par-5 No. 2 hole and never looked back. A lone bogey on the par-4 5th would be her only blemish as the War Eagle added three birdies on the back nine to claim solo medalist honors. 

A two-time Team USA Curtis Cup player (2026 and 2024), Davis will enter Thursday's Round of 64 as a top seed. With plenty of match-play experience and a veteran caddie on the bag, she is confident in her ability a deep run, perhaps surpassing her career-best U.S. Women's Amateur finish of quarterfinalist, a feat she accomplished at Bel-Air Country Club in 2023 and again at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., in 2024. 

“I’ve found myself in this situation multiple times,” Davis said. “I feel like the last four tournaments I've played have been match play, so I feel comfortable with the format.” 

“David Reynolds is my caddie,” she added. “He's the caddie master at Augusta and has caddied for me in a couple events the last few years. He works all the events that I play in that require a caddie.” 

Matching Davis at 4-under is top-ranked junior golfer Asterisk Talley, who sits at T3 with four holes still to play in her round. Talley, who earned co-medalist honors at Bandon Dunes in 2025, had three birdies and a bogey when play was suspended.  

Clairey Lin improved her opening-round score with a 2-under 70 on Wednesday. The reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, looking to become the 10th player to win both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur, posted a bogey-free round with birdies on Nos. 1 and 4 to finish stroke play tied for fifth place at 3-under 141. 

“I took some time off,” said Lin about life following her breakout win at Old Chatham. “I celebrated at home. I played golf with some friends. I chilled. It was nice to be back home. But I'm really excited to be back out here again.” 

Jasmine Koo, who competed in the 2024 and 2026 Curtis Cups for the USA Team, joins Lin as players in the clubhouse with a 36-hole total of 3-under 141. Koo recently completed her sophomore season at USC after being an All-Big Ten First Team player in 2024-25. She was a semifinalist at the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior, falling to eventual champion Rianne Malixi.  

Mary Miller joins the group at 3-under following a 4-under second round. Miller, a player at Ole Miss who just won the North and South, rattled off five birdies down the stretch following an early bogey on hole three.  

What’s Next?

Round 2 will resume at 7:15 a.m., with 31 players still needing to complete their rounds. If necessary, following the conclusion of stroke play, a sudden death playoff will begin at No. 10 and then continuing to Nos. 11, 12, 16, 17 and 18. Round of 64 matches will commence Thursday mid-morning. Match play continues through Sunday’s 36-hole championship match. Admission is free, and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• Three players are competing in their home state of Tennessee. Rachel Heck, who shot a two-day total of 4-over 76, is hovering near the cutline, while Tennessee State Amateur champion Molly Hardwick and Hanley Long, runner-up at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, will miss the cut. 

• Two-time USGA champion and the only U.S. Women’s Amateur champion in the field, Rianne Malixi, struggled to a 5-over 77 on Tuesday. She bounced back Wednesday, closing with two birdies in her final five holes to finish at 4-over and put herself in position to likely advance to at least a playoff. 

• Play was suspended at 4:40 p.m. for dangerous weather in the area. Play resumed at 7:02 p.m. after a 2 hour and 22-minute delay. 

• Of the nine players who appeared in the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally, six are currently within the cutline. Ina Kim-Schaad sits one back of the projected cut line at 6-over with two holes to play while Lauren Kim and Chloe Kovelesky will miss the cut, each shooting 8-over.

Quotable

• “Yeah, I guess it didn't really click until a couple days ago. My caddie was like, ‘This is your last one.’ I was like, ‘Damn, you're right. It's my last chance to win one.’ It's definitely clicked now, but it's okay. I've played in a lot of these. I think it's been a long time coming, so I'm ready to play my last season of college and move on to the next chapter.” - Anna Davis on playing in perhaps her last U.S. Women’s Amateur

• “Yeah, I've wanted to go to Stanford for as long as I can remember. Probably even before I started playing golf. I just love the school. I love the place. Amazing coaches, and some of my best friends are on the team.” - Clairey Lin on her Stanford commitment

• “My ball striking yesterday and today has been very good, so very minimal amount of stress out there. I think once I hit a certain point [today] I was like, okay, the goal is to make the cut and I think I'm pretty safe in it. I don't want to say I got too comfortable, but I was pretty comfortable.” - Jasmine Koo on her mindset after the weather delay 

• “During the weather delay I was trying to not look at the leaderboard. I didn't have my phone during that whole shelter in place ... I was just at the coloring table just trying to occupy myself. So I didn't look at the leaderboard at all, and was just trying to like keep myself present, and, yeah, it's all distractions anyway, so I was just going to keep trying my best." - Kylie Chong on what she did during the two-hour weather delay

• “This is my first U.S. Women’s Amateur, so I’m really happy that I made the cut. I’m in a good spot right now and I love match play. Having Beth [Wu] by my side kind of feels like Nationals again. We work really well together, so I’m really excited to see how it turns out.” - Kylie Chong on having USC assistant coach Beth Wu as her caddie