Destined for stardom, Megha Ganne a fitting U.S. Women's Amateur champion at Bandon Dunes

USA Today

2 days ago

BANDON, Ore. — Megha Ganne has done hundreds of pretend victory speeches into Gatorade bottles over the years.
The 21-year-old from New Jersey has done plenty of winning in her golf career. She has won over and over as a junior and amateur golfer. She has been destined for stardom since the first time her coach, Katie Rudolph, saw her swing a club on the range at Galloping Hills in New Jersey, where Ganne was in the crowd at a girls golf clinic.
The world got its first introduction to Ganne on the big stage at Olympic Club in the 2021 U.S. Women's Open, where she played in the final group on Sunday and became a fan favorite with her bright smile and infectious aura. Ganne has always dreamed of succeeding on the big stages, and she normally does, but Sunday's stage was her grandest achievement yet.
Ganne claimed the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur title at Bandon Dunes, beating 22-year-old Brooke Biermann 4 and 3 in the 36-hole final. Bandon Dunes has become an icon of American golf, where the ocean speaks with crashing waves and the wind lashes those who walks the links-style layout on Oregon's coast. It's a course that demands excellence and brings out the absolute best a player has to offer. It's fitting Ganne won her first USGA title at the iconic venue, where her stardom was able to shine off the reflection of the ocean as her championship backdrop.
"She's always been a superstar," Rudolph said. "The same Megha you see right now is the same Megha you've seen when she was 7, 8, 9, 10, all the way up. She's always believed in herself. There was never doubt."
Throughout the week, Rudolph took photos of the ocean from above the cliffs and envisioned being able to take a picture with Megha holding the trophy. It's fitting, then, that Ganne ended the match on the par-3 15th hole, which sits perched above the screaming ocean waves beneath it.
The rising senior at Stanford earned the 11 seed before match play, and one by one she took down some of the world's top-ranked amateurs, who proved no match for Ganne's march to victory. Ganne, ranked 11th in the world, beat No. 14 Anna Davis in the Round of 32, No. 20 Kary Hollenbaugh in the Round of 16 and No. 6 Eila Galitsky in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Ganne was 4 down with seven holes to play. When she stepped on the 18th tee, the match was tied. She won it in 19 holes.
In Sunday's championship match, she took control from the start. A birdie on the first gave her a lead. The match was tied through 11 holes, but she won three consecutive on Nos. 12-14 to go 3 up, the lead she held at lunch. To begin the afternoon, Ganne again birdied the first. She and Biermann, the recent Michigan State grad who made match play for the first time this week at a USGA championship, each won three holes on the front nine while tying the other three, and Ganne's lead was 3 with nine to play.
The turning point came on the par-4 11th, when Biermann's 3-wood drifted about 30 yards left of the green. It took her two shots to get on the putting surface, and she still wasn't inside Ganne's approach, which she said was her best shot of the afternoon, and Biermann conceded the hole.
"Five iron, just a knockdown," Ganne said. "It was really windy. Think those back nine holes are more for a ball striker."
Images of holding the Robert Cox Trophy danced in Ganne's head, but the job was not done.
Biermann responded quickly, curling in a birdie putt on the par-5 13th after Ganne missed her look to get within 3. Then on the par-4 14th, Biermann had about 20 feet for birdie while Ganne was beyond the hole and had a downhill 25 footer. Ganne's attempt missed low and left a 4 footer. Biermann's birdie putt, which would've gotten her 2 down with 4 to play, never had a chance, stopping 6 feet short. Then on the par putt, she missed again.
Outside of her appearance in the final group of the U.S. Women's Open, the spotlight had never been brighter for Ganne. She stepped up, buried the 4 footer, and she could finally put one hand on the trophy.
"I love playing any sort of tournament, but I really do love being in the spotlight and I like performing under pressure," Ganne said. "I think it brings out the best in my game."
On the closing hole, Ganne fired an iron to the back left portion of the green, settling about 20 feet from the flag. Biermann found the surface but gave herself a 40 footer she needed to can to have hopes of extending the match. When she didn't, Ganne finally had the moment she had dreamed of for years and years and years. It was time to close.
Two putts later, and she was a U.S. Women's Amateur champion.
"You really need to show up to win one of these trophies," Rudolph said. "And she showed up this week, from Monday until that very last putt."
Ganne is no stranger to winning. Last year, she won a NCAA team title with Stanford. She was on the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team in 2022 at Merion. But this one was different.
"Winning with team is so special," Ganne said. "There's nothing like it, but this is something that has been an individual goal of mine ever since I was a little kid. I've hit so many putts in my basement pretending that it was to win a U.S. Open or a U.S. Amateur or a U.S. Junior.
"To actually have that putt is surreal."
Instead of a Gatorade bottle, a television microphone was waiting to interview the newest USGA champion on the 15th green in a quick ceremony. After it was over, Ganne set down her trophy and walked over to her parents, Sudha and Hari Ganne, and Rudolph, who were reminiscing about the little girl hitting golf balls on the range that was destined for stardom, now in the record books forever.
"I don't know what to do," Ganne said to them while laughing.
With star power and skill like hers, Megha Ganne better get used to those winning moments.