10 must-watch players in the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes
The 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur begins Monday at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, where 156 of the top female amateur in the world will battle it out for a chance to hoist the Robert Cox Trophy. The top 64 players after two rounds of stroke play will advance to match play, and whoever can win six matches will become a USGA champion.
Here's a look at 10 must-watch players during the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur:
10 players to watch at U.S. Women's Amateur 2025
Chaisitprungruang, better known as "Pinky," won the Women's Elite Amateur Series this summer, a collection of five of the top women's amateur events. She won the Southwestern Amateur and then split medalist honors after stroke play at the Women's Western Amateur.
Deng captured the title at the 2025 U.S. Girls' Junior at Atlanta Athletic Club, with the 15-year-old becoming the first Canadian champion of the U.S. Girls' Junior.
Galitsky enrolled halfway through the season at South Carolina and became one of the best players in the country. She won her second college start and then didn't finish worse than T-11 in her next four events, including a T-4 at the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
Hollenbaugh, a rising senior at Ohio State, broke out this spring in her junior season, winning four times and becoming one of the best players in college golf. She made the Round of 16 at the Women's Western Amateur last month.
Koo had a stellar freshman season at USC, winning four times and earning status as one of the best freshmen in college golf. She was also a member of the 2024 U.S. Curtis Cup team at Sunningdale and made the Round of 32 at the Women's Amateur Championship.
Malixi had an incredible summer in 2024, winning the U.S. Women's Amateur at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, three weeks after winning the U.S. Girls' Junior in California. Malixi became the second player ever to win the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior in the same year, joining Eun Jeong Seong in 2016.
Marin won medalist honors at the 2024 U.S. Women's Amateur and then made a run before withdrawing due to injury in the semifinals. However, she bounced back strong, capturing the NCAA individual title in May as a sophomore at Arkansas.
O'Keefe's stellar summer includes a runner-up finish in the Women's British Amateur, where in the semifinals she was 4 down with five holes to play but came back and won the match. She also made the Round of 16 at the Women's Western Amateur.
Romero is the new top-ranked female amateur in the world after Lottie Woad turned pro. This year, she won the Big 10 individual championship and NCAA Gold Canyon Regional then posted the lowest final-round score by an amateur in U.S. Women's Open history with her closing 67 at Erin Hills.
Talley's resume at 16 years old speaks for itself. Last year, she finished runner-up at the U.S. Women's Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior, this on the heels of winning the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball. She defeated Lottie Woad in singles at the Curtis Cup. This year, she finished runner-up at the Augusta National Women's Amateur.
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USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Pair of top-10 players among notables to miss cut in U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes
BANDON, Ore. — Stroke play has concluded at the U.S. Women's Amateur, which means the match play bracket is nearly set. The week started with 156 players competing at Bandon Dunes, and now the top 64 will battle it out for the Robert Cox Trophy come Wednesday in match play. Rianne Malixi and Asterisk Talley, who faced off in the championship match last year at Southern Hills, shared medalist honors after stroke play. The cut came at 1 over, with players there going to a playoff to fill out the match-play bracket. Everyone 2 over and worse missed the cut. The 14-for-6 playoff will begin at 7:15 a.m. PDT Wednesday morning. Here's a look at the notables who are heading home after stroke play at the U.S. Women's Amateur: Notables to miss the at 2025 U.S. Women's Open Oh, ranked 12th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, rebounded well Tuesday with a 70, but a 76 on Monday put her behind the 8-ball early. Park, ranked eighth in WAGR, shot 1 under on Tuesday but was unable to get to 1 over and into the Wednesday morning playoff. Todd made it to the semifinals last year at Southern Hills. This year, she wasn't able to make it into match play. A semifinalist in 2023 and fan favorite, Heck shot 1 under on Tuesday but needed one more birdie to get into the playoff. The NCAA individual champion from May at Omni La Costa shot 74 on Tuesday and didn't have a birdie to miss the cut by two shots. The 33rd-ranked player in the world had a strong Tuesday, shooting 69, but a 78 to open Monday took her out of contention. Macnab had two birdies in her final four holes Tuesday, but it wasn't enough to get inside the cut line. Kim, ranked 17th, had only three birdies over 36 holes and couldn't find her rhythm at Bandon Dunes. Bunch has been one of college golf's best players the last two years, but a 79 to open took her out of contention early.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Asterisk Talley, Rianne Malixi share medalist honors at U.S. Women's Amateur year after championship battle
BANDON, Ore. — Rianne Malixi and Asterisk Talley can't get enough of each other. Last year, the duo faced off in the championship match of the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Girls' Junior, with Malixi taking both titles. It was the first time that happened in the history of the USGA. Now, the duo are again on top at the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur, sharing medalist honors at Bandon Dunes. Malixi and Talley finished at 9-under 135 after two rounds of stroke play on the Oregon coast. Malixi shot 5-under 67 on Tuesday while Talley had a bogey-free 6-under 66. Talley, playing in the group behind Malixi, had an eagle attempt from about 20 feet on the last hole to win medalist honors on her own, but she settled for a birdie, and the duo who have become synonymous with each other are together yet again on the championship stage. "It's nothing new," Talley joked after signing her scorecard. "Earlier today, I saw Eila (Galitsky) finished 8 under, so I was like, I just have to shoot better than that. I wasn't really trying to get medalist, I was just trying to play a good round." Compared to normal conditions at Bandon Dunes, the winds have been absent for a majority of stroke play outside of Monday afternoon, with plenty of red numbers scattered on the leaderboard for both waves on Tuesday, as players went low. Vanessa Borovilos set a U.S. Women's Amateur record with a 9-under 63 round, the best round in the history of the championship. There were numerous players in the 60s, with Malixi and Talley the only pair to card both rounds in the 60s. "I was expecting the wind to pick up in the afternoon, but instead it got warmer," Malixi said. "My ball actually flew further than what I expected today. It was a good setup for me, so (I) took advantage." Malixi is the first defending U.S. Women's Amateur champion to win medalist honors since Beth Daniel did in 1976, a 49-year gap. There will be a playoff come Wednesday morning to determine the match-play bracket, but it's fitting the two players who had historic summers in 2024 at USGA events are pacing the field heading into match play at the 125th U.S. Women's Amateur.
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Golf Channel duties can wait: Emilia Doran advances to match play at U.S. Women's Amateur
BANDON, Ore. — Last Monday, Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran woke up at 6 a.m. ET in Charlotte, North Carolina. She finished playing a practice round at Bandon Dunes in Oregon at 9:30 p.m. PT. To say the last week has been a whirlwind for Doran would be an understatement, but it's far from over. She has traveled across the country, worked in her role as an on-course reporter for Golf Channel covering the Korn Ferry Tour in Utah and then arrived at the U.S. Women's Amateur the morning before her afternoon tee time on Monday. Now, she's one of 64 players with a chance to hoist the Robert Cox Trophy on the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. Doran advanced to match play at the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur, finishing at 2 under after two rounds of stroke play. It comes on the heels of one of her busiest weeks of the year, but it's a lifestyle she has grown accustomed to in recent months. Instead of putting on a Golf Channel headset Wednesday and calling shots from the best female amateurs in the world, Doran will have clubs in her hand and be competing herself. "I know that I can play good golf, and I know I can still be right there, even though I'm not practicing every day," Doran said. Her path to match play at the U.S. Women's Am goes back to last year's competition at Southern Hills. Doran was in a 20-for-10 playoff that went to the second hole and became a 9-for-8. Migliaccio, playing in the first threesome, carded a triple-bogey 6 and didn't advance to match play. That week, Doran also flew in late after working in her role as an on-course reporter and didn't get any practice rounds at the famed Perry Maxwell layout in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She felt as if she wasn't able to play her game that week and compete to the level she knows she can. There was also an adjustment period for Doran in recent months, learning how to maintain a work-life balance. She had to figure out how and when she could practice on the road while making sure she was fully prepared for her on-course role with Golf Channel. "It was definitely an adjustment," Doran said. "Last year it felt hard, at times, to try and manage both and compartmentalize myself. You want to practice, but you have a 3 p.m. show so you have to get up at 7 a.m. to practice. So it ends up being a late night, early morning." Doran said she has gotten better at determining when to bring her clubs on the road and when they need to stay at home. But the year in between U.S. Women's Amateurs was still a long wait. At the North & South Amateur at Pinehurst, she was in an 11-for-3 playoff and lost, failing to reach the Round of 32. That made making match play at Bandon Dunes even more rewarding. "I've had two experiences now where I'm like, 'all right.' Bandon Dunes, we're coming out here, and we're firing," Doran said. Competing on the final year of her exemption from being on the 2022 Curtis Cup team, Doran made the trip to Bandon Dunes last Monday to get a practice round in. She teed off at 4 p.m. local time and finished at 9:30 p.m. Then she traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to cover the Korn Ferry Tour's Utah Championship last weekend. She was able to get a couple 18-hole practice rounds in at Oak Ridge in Utah, where the Korn Ferry Tour event was held last year, while covering this year's championship. With her television duties not starting until the afternoon, the mornings were reserved for practice and preparation. She was finished with TV duties at 7 p.m. Sunday, then Doran and her husband, Charlie, left Salt Lake City at 10:45 p.m. and flew into Eugene, Oregon, to stay the night, not arriving at the hotel until 12:30 a.m. Then, the couple woke up at 6:30 a.m. on Monday and made the two-and-a-half hour drive to Bandon Dunes to get ready for her afternoon tee time. Charlie, her caddie for the week, had never seen the course, so they walked all 18 holes to get ready for the afternoon. "He loves being out here just as much, if not more, than I do," Doran said of Charlie. "He loves watching me compete. I know he's feeling every single shot I hit. We play a ton of golf together. He knows my numbers and stuff really well. As a caddie, he has good golf IQ. "It's just wonderful. It's also just great to get 5 hours to talk and connect and appreciate what it means to be out here." More: U.S. Women's Amateur live updates: Who's going to make the cut at Bandon Dunes? Rounds of 69 and 73 have added up to a match-play appearance at Bandon Dunes, and now the Golf Channel headset will have to wait to go back on her head. Two years ago in the U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach, Doran missed the cut and had a headset on by Friday afternoon calling the action on the Monterey Peninisula. This week, her focus is solely on golf until she's finished playing. TV will wait. "Play two good rounds of stroke play, and then you get a chance at match play," Doran said. "That's been really exciting." And in match play, anything can happen.
