Storms Bring Play to a Halt at U.S. Women’s Amateur

For the third consecutive day, severe weather disrupted play at The Honors Course during the 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur. But unlike the previous two days, Friday’s storms were severe enough that, once play was suspended, it never resumed.

More than an inch of rain, accompanied by powerful lightning that struck a tree near the 17th tee and sent shards of bark flying across the course, pummeled The Honors Course for nearly two hours. The thunder and lightning lingered much longer.

At the time of the delay, all eight Round of 16 matches were on the course.

The match furthest along at the stoppage was the bout between co-medalist Anna Iwanaga, of Japan, and Michelle Xing, of Canada. Through 10 holes, Iwanaga holds a 1-up advantage despite her Canadian competitor winning Nos. 7 and 10 to diminish what was a 3-up lead going into hole seven.

Ella Scaysbrook, of Australia, is tied through nine holes against Seojin Park of Korea. Both players won two holes in the afternoon match with Scaysbrook making an eagle on the par-4 seventh. The Australian is lone representative from last year’s quarterfinals still in the field.

Rachel Heck, of Memphis, Tenn., who pulled off another impressive upset in the Round of 32 with a 3-and-2 victory over Californian Gianna Singh, is currently 1 down in her Round of 16 matchup against Pimchompoo “Pinky” Chaisilprungruang of Thailand.

Earlier in the day, Heck cruised to a 6-up advantage over Singh before the Grand Canyon University commit rallied back with wins on Nos. 12, 13 and 15 to reduce the former Stanford Cardinal’s advantage to 3 up with three to go. A par on the par-3 16th hole, which requires a precise water carry, would seal a tie, and the match, for Heck.

Heck’s victory was just one of several shocking early day performances, as the morning Round of 32 matches featured plenty of outstanding play. Asterisk Talley, of Chowchilla, Calif., the 2024 runner-up, raced to a 5-up lead through five holes against Rayee Feng, of Short Hills, N.J., opening with back-to-back birdies before holing out for eagle from the fairway on the fourth. She went on to win, 6 and 4.

In a marquee matchup between No. 4-ranked and NCAA individual champion Farah O’Keefe, of Austin, Texas, and recent U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Clairey Lin, of Canada, O’Keefe never made a bogey but still came up short, falling to Lin.

What’s Next?

Round of 16 action will resume Saturday morning at 7 a.m., followed by the quarterfinals and semifinals, as time permits. Golf Channel will provide live coverage from 9 a.m.-noon and 3-6 p.m. ET. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• There were  two hole outs for eagle in the morning round; Asterisk Talley on No. 4 and Maggie Ma on No. 10.

• Ma, 14, of Irvine, Calif., the youngest player in the 156-player field, is still in contention to become the youngest champion in history. She is currently tied in her Round of 16 against U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Clairey Lin, through four holes.

• With her win Friday morning, Asterisk Talley is now 20-6 in USGA match play, and 7-2 in her U.S. Women’s Amateur career. Asterisk’s 20 match-play victories span the U.S. Women’s Amateur, U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, which she won in 2025.

• Clairey Lin was 7-under through 17 holes with the usual match play concessions in her Round of 32 match against World No. 4 Farah O’Keefe. O’Keefe was 5-under in the match with no bogeys.

• There are seven different countries represented in the Round of 16. The United States leads the way with six competitors, while Canada has three, Australia and Japan have two, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and People’s Republic of China each have one.

• The day began with three Round of 64 matches that resumed after play was suspended due to darkness Thursday night. One was a 22-hole thriller between Wake Forest’s Macy Pate and Colombia’s Ana Sofia Murcia, the longest match of the championship so far. Pate forced extra holes with a birdie on the 18th just before play was suspended Thursday, then won the match with an eagle on the fourth playoff hole.

• Play was suspended at 3:28 p.m. for dangerous weather for the third straight day. It never resumed.