AUGUSTA, Ga. — Asterisk Talley is just 17 years old but her confidence on the golf course is way beyond her years. It’s a self-assurance she’s carried with her from the time she began playing golf as a young girl in Chowchilla, Calif.
“I feel like I’ve always had that since I was little. I kind of got that drilled into me when I was a little kid that, I mean, you only come to tournaments to win,” Talley said. “Why would you play one if you weren’t going to win, right?
Talley is 18 holes away from winning the biggest event of her life. She leads the Augusta National Women’s Amateur by one shot at 11 under par heading into Saturday’s final round. Sweden’s Meja Ortengren and Colombia’s Maria Jose Marin are tied for second.
After shooting 66-67 in the first two rounds at Champions Retreat, Talley went out Friday for her practice round at Augusta National, where she already has such good vibes. She started her Augusta career by finishing runner-up in her age group in the 2018 Drive, Pitch and Putt National Finals. Come Saturday, she’ll play her third competitive round at Augusta National. She’s 21 under for her career at the ANWA, which is six strokes better than the next closest player in tournament history. Talley hasn’t made bogey in 48 consecutive holes at ANWA, another record. And she’s the first player in tournament history to record four consecutive rounds in the 60s.
Talley is so assured, even around Amen Corner, where some of the best golfers in the world have white-knuckled it and buckled. For the high school junior, there’s no hesitation or trepidation. It’s the opposite, in fact. It’s more like, bring it on.
“I think definitely any shot on 11, 12, or 13 is going to be pretty fun to hit. I mean, I just love those holes so much. They’re so scenic, but yet, so fun to play,” Talley said. “They can be the toughest holes on the course sometimes, so they can be not so fun if you put yourself in a bad position. I think those holes can go both ways. It’s kind of a double-edged sword.”
A year ago at Augusta National, Talley shot a final-round 68 to finish runner-up to Carla Bernat Escuder. In 2024, she used a 70 on Saturday to finish T-8—while being the youngest golfer in the field at 15.
This final round is different, however, sleeping on the lead with the expectation of winning. Chris Zambri, the head coach of the U.S. National Development Program, believes Talley will deal with the pressure just fine, like she has so many times before.
“She’s always been known to handle the moment really well,” Zambri said. “This is the first time she’s been in this position, which you could call the favorite. Leading [and] heading into the final round. She barely made the cut two years ago, then shot [70] and finished eighth. Last year she started the round with an eagle. It’s how closely can you play to your physical potential. What does pressure do to that? She’s always shown to do really well in those situations. I have all the confidence she’ll go out and do fine and play her game and probably be in the mix all day long. Ideally, she’d get off to a roaring start and build some kind of lead.”
Just four players are within five shots of Talley with eight other golfers six shots back in a tie for sixth. It’s likely they’ll need Talley and others to come back to the field. But the ninth-ranked player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings hasn’t made a mistake this week. Even when she was in a greenside bunker at the 18th hole in the first round, she holed out for eagle.
Talley has family friend Ryan Zak on the bag again this week at Augusta National.
Maddie Meyer
On the bag this week is longtime family friend Ryan Zak. Talley was supposed to have fellow top-ranked junior Miles Russell caddieing, but he wound up qualifying to get into this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event. It was an easy switch because Zak was already in Augusta with the Talley family and on standby, trading a vacation to get to work with Talley again, just liked he did when he caddied for her last year.
“The last time I had worked with her was Bandon Dunes for the [2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur] and her game has changed already, in that short amount of time,” Zak said. “She’s longer. The putting is getting really good.”
Talley is the first player to go bogey-free over the first two rounds since the tournament began in 2019. The teenager, who just obtained her driver’s license in January, has been a star since she was born—literally. She was given the Greek name, Asterisk, which means “little star,” after her Greek mom. She’s lived up to that and then some as she’s become a superstar amateur golfer.
By the time she tees off at 11 a.m. Saturday, she’ll have had two days to think about playing with the lead and how she’ll approach that. Just before coming here, she played on a sponsor’s exemption in the LPGA’s Ford Championship. After a second-round 65, was inside the top 10. A final-round 74 ultimately dropped her to T-29.
“I think in tournaments where it gets kind of tight at the end, I’ve been in those positions where you have maybe a one- or two-shot lead coming into the last couple of holes, and I think it’s important to keep your mindset straight and to not let the lead even get ahold of you and think, you know, I have this lead so I can just play free,” Talley said. “You still have to be aggressive, and you still have to hit some good shots. think just keeping the same mindset throughout the whole round.”
Asterisk Talley when she qualified for the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals in 2021.
John McCoy
At 15 she played on the 2024 U.S. Curtis Cup team.
Oisin Keniry/R&A
With a final-round 68, Talley came in second place at the 2025 ANWA.
Richard Heathcote
Talley, a Stanford commit, will be paired with Ortengren, a Stanford golfer, in the final twosome. The two have met.
“I’ve played with her a few times before at some AJGA events, and we also had a dinner at Stanford with some of the incoming recruits that have verbally committed to Stanford,” Ortengren said. “It was so nice to meet her, but I don’t know her that well. It’s going to be so much fun playing with her. I know she’s an amazing player, so it’s going to be a good battle with her and the other competitors.”
Asked what’s different about Talley from the two previous years, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint for Zambri, whose watched her game closely in that timeframe.
“Gosh, she’s a lot bigger and stronger, for sure,” Zambri said. “She hits it longer than she did a couple years ago. She swung it really nicely two years ago, like she does now. Really good golf swing and hits the ball on line really well. She’s a good putter. She’s a nice chipper. She does everything really well. I just think she’s certainly more seasoned, which, of course, she’s 17 now. Back then she was 15.
“She’s got way more experience on a bigger stage, than she did the first time she played in this thing. Then she went on to play in the U.S. Open and played really well. She just keeps kind of piling on these accomplishments. Se’s doing an awesome job. She played in the Curtis Cup at 15 and beat the No. 1 amateur in the world [Lottie Woad]. She’s been really good since the time I met her two years ago. She does hit it much harder now, which is so helpful.”
Also helpful is that winning mentality for Talley, something that could come in handy on Saturday.
“I think just knowing that you play well the previous days going into the last day, and I think just looking back on your game from the previous days in the week and just thinking that I got here for a reason,” Talley said. “So why can’t I finish it off on the last day?”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
