Little Star Earns Her Greatest Honor

For a 17-year-old golf superstar, Asterisk Talley, of Chowchilla, Calif., has already endured her share of heartbreak.

She burst onto the national scene at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Lancaster Country Club, where, at just 15, she found herself two strokes off the lead after the opening round. Since then, Talley has cemented herself as the best junior golfer in the world, collecting wins at the Girls’ Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, the Junior PGA Championship and countless other junior events.

But for all the victories, there have been some painful near-misses. Talley finished runner-up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2024 before falling just short again at the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. And after each of those losses, golf fans around the world witnessed a poised teenager address a global audience through tears, each time hoping her moment would come soon.

Now, at the 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur, her moment has finally arrived. 

Over a long week that saw inclement weather suspend play on five consecutive days, Talley never lost her focus. In fact, she saved her best for last, defeating Japan’s Anna Iwanaga 8 and 6 to hoist the Robert Cox Trophy and claim the USGA’s oldest women’s championship in her third try. Talley, who became a USGA champion after winning the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with partner Sarah Lim, had her dad, Jim, on the bag to share in a moment years in the making.

"This pretty much completes my amateur career,” said Talley. “This is one of the biggest events to ever win, so I think this is going to be the top of my list from now on.”

Talley, a three-year member of the U.S. National Junior Team, jumped out early, winning the first hole with a par, but Iwanaga answered with a par on No. 3 to tie the match. From there, winning holes with pars would prove challenging, as the two competitors put on quite a show. Talley birdied No. 4 before Iwanaga answered with birdies on Nos. 6 and 7 to take her first lead of the match. Talley quickly responded with a birdie on the par-3 eighth to tie the match, but Iwanaga, a member of the Japan National Team, reclaimed her lead with another birdie on No. 9.

Despite her opponent’s persistence, the 2024 runner-up began to turn the tide on the back nine, making birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 13 to take a 2-up advantage. The two players then traded pars over the next three holes before Talley added another birdie on No. 17 to extend her lead to 3 up. The 18th was tied with pars, sending Talley into the lunch break with the advantage. 

Talley played the first 18 in 6-under par with seven birdies and one bogey, while Iwanaga was 3 under par.

"I'm quite happy and I’ll learn a lot from this,” said Iwanaga. “It's huge to come to play USGA events. I [also] played with Asterisk in March in Junior Invitational. So I saw her in March and she's great player, so good to compete again with her.”

The afternoon session got underway following a short lunch break, with Talley extending her lead to 4 up with a birdie on the 19th hole of the match, The Honors Course’s 409-yard par-4 first. It marked the sixth time in seven match-play attempts that Talley won the opening hole at The Honors Course.

The two competitors would then tie the 20th hole of the match before pesky storms in the Chattanooga area once again brought play to a halt for 69 minutes. 

Once the storms passed, Iwanaga could not regain momentum. Talley extended her lead to 6 up with wins on the 23rd and 24th holes, and after the two players halved the next four, the finish was in sight. Talley remained 6 up with eight holes to play. Then, on the par-5 25th hole, she chipped in for birdie to go 7 up with seven to play. A par on the next hole would cement her into history.

What The Champion Receives

• The JoAnne Carner Medal and custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year

• Exemptions into the next 10 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships

• Exemption into the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio (can play as a professional or amateur)

• A likely invitation to the 2027 Augusta National Women’s Amateur

• Likely exemptions into the 2027 Chevron Championship, Amundi Evian Championship and AIG Women’s Open

• Name engraved on the 2026 USGA champions’ plaque that will reside in the Hall of Champions inside the USGA Museum and Library, in Liberty Corner, N.J.

Notable

• Runner-up Anna Iwanaga received a silver medal and a three-year U.S. Women’s Amateur exemption. She also earns a place in the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open (must remain amateur).  

• The next USGA championship to be staged at The Honors Course will be the 2031 U.S. Amateur. 

• Asterisk Talley is the first runner-up to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur since Amanda Blumenherst won in 2008 after finishing second in 2007.  

• Talley needed just 108 holes to get through six rounds of match play. That is tied for the fifth-fewest holes needed in championship history, and five off the record.  

• Talley won the opening hole of the championship match, the fifth straight match in which she won the par-4 opening hole at The Honors Course. She would win the hole again in the afternoon session. 

• Iwanaga’s coach and translator, Jun Nagashima, a manager of athlete and coach development with the Japan Golf Association, shared a close bond with Taizo Kawata, the 2013 Joe Dey Award recipient and the first international recipient of the award, who passed away at age 82 last month.

Quotable

“I think just staying calm. Sometimes you can overthink a little bit or get a little stressed during that. I think just staying calm and knowing it was the right timing throughout the whole thing really kept us calm and good.” - Talley on how she dealt with five days of weather delays

“I don't know. I just think it's a lot of fun. I think the elements are really good. I mean, when you only have to play against one player and you're playing the same conditions the whole time you don't really have to worry about anyone else. I think it's better to stay in the moment.” - Talley on why she is so good at match play

“I didn't know that I'm exempted to the U.S. Women's Open next year, so I'm quite excited to hear that. I'd like to see and play with those high-level athletes. Looking forward to it.” - Iwanaga on learning she earned a spot into next year’s U.S. Women’s Open