TULSA, Okla. — Asterisk Talley is only 15 years old, but don’t let her innocent demeanor fool you. She’s a match-play assassin.
Talley dominated her 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Round of 16 match on Thursday afternoon, taking down Angela Heo 7 and 6 to move into Friday’s quarterfinals at Southern Hills Country Club. That came on the heels of her 4-and-2 win over Justice Bosio of Australia earlier in the day in the Round of 32.
While it may seem an impressive achievement for someone as young as Talley, it’s just another week this summer for her.
The victory moved Talley to 13-1 in match play in U.S. Golf Association events this year. On top of earning low amateur honors at the U.S. Women’s Open, Talley and partner Sarah Lim won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Oak Hills Country Club in Texas, where Talley won five matches.
Then at the U.S. Girls’ Junior at El Caballero Country Club in California, she made the championship match, going 5-1 on the week in match play.
Now at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, she’s 3-0 and the youngest player to advance to match play.
“I feel like just hitting it within like 20 feet and just trying to get on the green and then just, if a one-putt falls you’re doing well, or if you get within 15 feet, you’re doing really good,” Talley said. “You’re not trying to get anywhere close to the hole, you’re just trying to get somewhere on the green, and then if you make a putt, you make a putt, and I feel like I was.
“Sometimes I would get within like 10 feet and then I would just try and make it, and it’s all working out.”
Talley made a name for herself earlier this year when she won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, leading wire-to-wire. Then she made her Augusta National Women’s Amateur debut before dominating the USGA circuit this summer.
“I feel like the best part of match play is you’re just playing the one person, and you don’t have to worry about everybody else,” Talley said. “Especially this morning with the conditions that there were, there was a bunch of wind, and in stroke play you can have someone going off at like 7 a.m. and there’s no wind, no conditions at all, and I feel like it’s great that you can have someone that has the wind, has the conditions that you have when you’re playing them.”
Now, only time will tell if Talley can add to her impressive mark.
