The tears gathered in the corner of Asterisk Talley's eyes when she glanced toward her father, Jim. He already had waterfalls cascading down his face.
Jim handed a putter to his 17-year-old daughter, who had three putts to win the biggest championship of her life. She had to do it through blurry vision, but two swipes later, Talley conquered the oldest women's amateur championship in the world, two years after coming up short in the same event.
Talley, from Chowchilla, California, won the 126th U.S. Women's Amateur on Sunday at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee, dominating the afternoon session and taking down fellow 17-year-old Anna Iwanaga from Japan, who was a co-medalist and No. 1 seed. Iwanaga won the ninth hole in the morning to go
1 up, and it was all Talley from there, winning nine of the next 21 holes to polish off a dominating 8-and-6 victory. Talley, whose first name means "Little Star" in Greek, is a superstar in women's amateur golf, and now she has the most prestigious trophy in the sport to prove it.
It's Talley's second USGA title. Two years ago, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball before finishing runner-up in the U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Amateur at Southern Hills. Last year at Bandon Dunes, she share co-medalist honors at Bandon Dunes before being upset in the Round of 64, her opponent Ella Scaysbrook eventually losing in the semifinals to Megha Ganne, the champion in Oregon.
Even earlier this year, Talley held the solo lead heading into the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur before falling short, her emotions coming out on the national stage and her resilience and strength to talk through them resonating with golf fans around the world.
This week, Talley finished solo third in stroke play but a shot behind Iwanaga, a Japanese budding star who has won some professional events and made the Round of 16 at the U.S. Girls' Junior three years ago.
But after Iwanaga took a 1-up lead after nine holes, The Honors Course belonged to Talley, whose power and dominance took over the championship match's final 21 holes.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Asterisk Talley leaves no doubt in dominant U.S. Women's Amateur triumph at The Honors Course
