Semifinals Suspended as Talley Eyes Second Final Appearance

It was an eventful day in southeastern Tennessee as inclement weather once again showed up uninvited at the 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur, stopping play for nearly three hours during the semifinals at The Honors Course, in Ooltewah, Tenn.  

After the Round of 16 and quarterfinals concluded earlier in the day, both semifinal matches got underway before a storm, the fourth in as many days, halted play. Two hours and 58 minutes later (at 6:27 p.m.) play resumed, with Anna Iwanaga, of Japan, holding a 1-up lead over her opponent through three holes and Asterisk Talley, 17, of Chowchilla, Calif., 1 up on Lily Peng through one hole. 

Following her 1-up start in the semifinals, Talley hit a second gear following the weather delay, draining a ten-foot birdie putt on No. 4 and winning the fifth and sixth holes with pars to extend her advantage over Peng, a fellow Northern Californian, to 4 up.

But Peng showed she wasn’t intimidated by the more-experienced Talley, knocking in a ten-foot birdie putt of her own on the seventh hole to trim the deficit to three. The two would trade pars on the 8th and 9th holes, although Talley missed an opportunity to extend her lead with a missed four-footer on No. 9 right before play was called for the day. 

“I think it's definitely going to be a mental test, but I think today was a good warmup for that,” said Talley, on what lies ahead. “But, yeah, I think it's going to just be whoever is kind of fatigued tomorrow. So I think just kind of staying sharp out there and hopefully keeping the mistakes out of play.”

Iwanaga, the No. 1 seed, showed no sign of slowing down following the weather delay, increasing her advantage over Gabriella Nicastro, 21, of Huntsville, Ala., to 2 up with a par on the par-4 fourth hole. Before the stoppage, Iwanaga extended her lead to three.  

"It feels really good because I'm not the best at match play,” said Nicastro on making it to the semifinals. “I prefer stroke play. So feels good to get that monkey off my back and win matches and just kind of keep that momentum going. I'm going to try and do that tomorrow, too; see how it goes.”

The quarterfinals took place midday Saturday, with Iwanaga advancing most efficiently, defeating Republic of Korea’s Seojin Park, 5 and 3. Nicastro earned her spot in the semis with a 2-and-1 victory over Thailand’s Pimchompoo “Pinky” Chaisilprungruang. On the other side of the bracket, Peng defeated Yujie Lin of the People’s Rep. of China, 2 and 1. 

The marquee quarterfinal matchup came down to a battle between breakout star Maggie Ma, 14, of Irvine, Calif., and No. 7-ranked Talley, the 2024 runner-up. The two had already played 14 holes earlier in the day to complete their weather-delayed Round of 16 matches, but neither showed any signs of fatigue in what became another marathon.

Talley, who owns one of the most accomplished résumés in the field, jumped out to a 1-up lead that she carried through the front nine. She extended the advantage to as many as 3 up by hole 15, but Ma refused to go away, winning three consecutive holes to tie the match on the 18th. The NorCal native then drew on her experience when it mattered most, sinking a birdie on the first playoff hole, The Honors Course’s 416-yard par-4 10th, to secure a semifinal berth for the second time in her career.

What’s Next?

The conclusion of the semifinals will begin at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, followed by the start of the 36-hole championship match. Golf Channel will air the final at 3 p.m. ET. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend.

Notable

• All quarterfinalists are exempt into the 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur, set to take place at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club (Course No. 2) Aug. 2-8. All semifinalists are also exempt into the 2028 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Brae Burn Country Club in Massachusetts.  

• The two finalists will earn spots in the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally, set to be held in June at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.  

• Semifinalist Lily Peng attends Carondelet High School, the alma mater of 2018 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Yealimi Noh. 
  

• Anna Iwanaga is looking to become the first co-medalist to go on to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur since Amanda Blumenherst in 2008. 

• For the fourth straight day, play was suspended due to dangerous weather in the area. The delay lasted 2 hours, 58 minutes with play resuming at 6:27 p.m.  

• Asterisk Talley began the day by finishing her Round of 16 match, before playing 19 holes in the quarters and nine more in the semis. She totaled 39 holes played on Saturday.

Quotable

“It means a lot because I always get really excited to play this tournament and this tournament always gets -- I get to learn a lot of experience from the older kids. They're all really great players.” - Maggie Ma on earning her spot in next year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur

“It feels amazing. Pinehurst is so amazing. Historically, just so much history there. Yeah, that's awesome. I'm glad to learn that news right now. That's pretty sweet.” - Gabriella Nicastro on being able to play in the Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst next year

“I think the rain delays definitely kind of helped get that little relax in and kind of reset the brain.” - Asterisk Talley on the weather delay during the semifinals