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NBC Sports
11-08-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Decorated Megha Ganne adds U.S. Women's Amateur title in seventh and final try
BANDON, Ore. – Katie Rudolph's introduction to Megha Ganne came at a driving range in Union, New Jersey. It took just a few swings from the 7-year-old Ganne that day at Galloping Hill to captivate Rudolph, who then raced to Ganne's parents to ask them if she could take the reins as Ganne's coach. 'She was basically a miniature version of who she is right now,' Rudolph said. A big personality with an even bigger game. And it wasn't long before Rudolph was telling Ganne, 'Let's go be the best in the world.' Ganne took a massive leap toward that goal on Sunday at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, where the now 21-year-old Ganne, a rising senior at Stanford, took down Michigan State grad Brooke Biermann, 4 and 3, in the scheduled 36-hole final of the 125th U.S. Women's Amateur. 'I'm not going to lie, I was thinking about this trophy like the entire day,' said Ganne, who never trailed against Biermann. Six times the intricate Robert Cox Trophy had eluded Ganne, a veteran of now 15 USGA championship starts, but no more. She gripped that thing tight and with both hands hoisted it way into the crisp, oceanside air. 'It's so much harder than it seems to win one of these,' Ganne said, 'and it takes not only like a lot of patience, tries at it, but so many things working in your favor – good health, good luck, good fortune, and good timing. All those things coming together just feels like it's fate.' Ganne entered this week ranked 11th in the world amateur rankings and with a sparkling resumé, even from a young age. She was a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt national finalist. She qualified for her first U.S. Girls' Junior in 2017, at just 13 years old, and a few weeks later did the same for her first U.S. Women's Amateur. Two years after that, she was the youngest match-play qualifier by four years at the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur before losing in the semifinals in 19 holes to Albane Valenzuela. Then came Olympic. In her second U.S. Women's Open appearance, a 17-year-old Ganne arrived on the national stage in San Francisco by leading after the first round and later booking her place in Sunday's final pairing. Though she'd slip to T-14, she still captured low-amateur honors – and everyone's attention. 'We flew under the radar for a long time,' Rudolph said, 'but when Olympic happened, it was like, 'OK, let's say goodbye to those days because you're officially on the radar. You're going to be it moving forward.'' Ganne was the Rolex AJGA Junior Player of the Year that winter. The next summer, she went 3-0 in her Curtis Cup debut at Merion before heading off to Stanford, where she's won twice in three seasons while playing a pivotal role in the Cardinal's 2024 NCAA Championship, plus national runners-up in 2023 and this past spring. But when Ganne would hit putts in her family's basement in Holmdel, New Jersey, some 45 minutes south of New York City, it was to win USGA titles. She's always held these championships in high regards – the star-studded fields, elite venues, unmatched history. 'Every time the USGA sends me a feedback form, I never know what to say because I don't know how it could possibly get better,' Ganne said. Ganne was disqualified from her final U.S. Girls' Junior in 2022 for signing for an incorrect score, and she missed last year's U.S. Women's Amateur after withdrawing the week of with food poisoning, a fitting end to a frustrating summer that also saw Ganne miss the Curtis Cup and miss extended time with hip and back injuries. But that adversity strengthened Ganne, now healthier and more pliable, who navigated 119 holes this week on the David McLay Kidd layout. She tied for 10th in stroke play before winning each of her first four matches without needing to play the par-5 18th hole. That momentum, however, came to a screeching halt in Saturday's semifinal opposite Australia's Ella Scaysbrook, who led 4 up with seven holes to play. On the ropes, Ganne thought about that fearless 15-year-old who nearly pulled off the unthinkable. If she could rally then, surely she could again in what will be her last U.S. Women's Amateur (she will be pro by next summer). 'There are so many more things to believe in now, although I had a lot of belief at 15 as well,' Ganne said. 'But at 15, I don't think I had nearly the toolset that I do now; I have so many more shots in the bag, my physical game has evolved, my mental game has evolved. It felt like when I was 15, I had to be playing my absolute best golf just to contend with these players, which is a totally different feeling than I have now. I feel like if I play golf that I know is well within my limits and my control, I feel like I'm going to be tough to beat.' Ganne prevailed in 19 holes to book her place in the championship match against Biermann, who was arguably the sentimental favorite, a bubbly blonde from St. Louis with her dad, Bill, on the bag and younger sister Ashleigh, who has battled a rare chromosomal condition, walking the fairways. Biermann was also a sizable underdog. Ganne birdied two of the first three holes to take a 2-up lead through three holes of the morning portion. Though Biermann immediately responded with lengthy birdie makes to tie the match through five frames, the flatstick would soon be her downfall. She whiffed on 3-footers at Nos. 7 and 13, and Ganne went into the lunch break leading, 3 up. Biermann found a couple sparks in the afternoon, most notably a 12-foot birdie conversion at the par-5 13th to get the ledger back to 3 down. But when she three-putted from just off the green and about 25 feet away at the par-4 14th, Biermann knew that was it. Ganne and her superstar ball-striking, no more evident than the piercing 5-iron she hit to birdie the par-4 11th in the afternoon, were just too much. 'Unfortunately, the putter went cold today,' said Biermann, who will turn pro and enter LPGA Q-School next month, 'but overall, I felt like I gave it my all and I had a blast out here.' Moments later, Ganne landed her tee ball at the par-3 15th just off the left side of the green but only 18 feet from the hole, and after Biermann missed her birdie try, completed her two-putt for USGA immortality. 'To actually have that putt is surreal,' Ganne said. This time, though, she wasn't standing in her basement. When she dropped her putter and immediately put both hands over her mouth, Ganne was illuminated by the setting sun along the Oregon coastline. Golden hour, as they call it, had arrived, and soon, it wasn't hard to notice the shiny tears starting to roll down Ganne's face as she embraced her loved ones, including her parents, Hari and Sudha, and Rudolph. 'I hope this helps her take the lid off things and she just starts winning everything,' Rudolph said. That 7-year-old girl with the bright future? She's still the same girl, only now she's a U.S. Women's Amateur champion.
USA Today
11-08-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Destined for stardom, Megha Ganne a fitting U.S. Women's Amateur champion at Bandon Dunes
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.
Winnipeg Free Press
11-08-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Megha Ganne gets her USGA title with dominant win over Biermann in US Women's Amateur
BANDON, Ore. (AP) — Megha Ganne won three straight holes against mistake-prone Brooke Biermann and was never seriously threatened on her way to winning her first USGA title Sunday with a 4-and-3 victory in the U.S. Women's Amateur. Three times that Biermann won a hole in the afternoon, Ganne responded with a birdie to remain 4 up and make it only a matter of time before she won. Biermann twice went well over the green and conceded holes in the afternoon and never could put any pressure on Ganne. 'Brooke didn't make it easy on me. She showed so much fight,' Ganne said. 'This is likely my last Women's Amateur, and I really, really wanted to get this done.' Ganne, who starts her senior year at Stanford next month, has been chasing a USGA title for nearly a decade. She reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur in 2019 at age 15, losing in 19 holes to Albane Valenzuela. She nearly didn't even get a chance at Bandon Dunes. Ganne was 4 down with seven holes to play in the semifinals against Ella Scaysbrook when she rallied to force extra holes, winning with a birdie on the 19th hole. There wasn't much drama in the championship match. Ganne never trailed, although each player won three holes and the match was all square through 11 holes in the morning. Biermann lost the next three holes with bogeys and never caught up. Ganne was 3 up after 18 holes, and Biermann never got any closer. 'Megha is a great player,' Biermann said. 'I was trying to stay in my own thoughts. Unfortunately, the putter went cold today. Overall, I felt like I gave it my all. I had a blast out here.' Biermann, who just finished her college career at Michigan State, battled to at least stay in the game. On the 14th hole, she had a 20-foot putt from the collar of the green. She had to make that to cut the deficit to 2 down with four holes to play. But she left it 5 short, missed the next putt and suddenly was 4 down with four to play. Ganne two-putted from 15 feet for par on the next hole to close out the match. 'I can't believe I'm standing here right now,' Ganne said as she held the trophy. 'I'm not going to lie, I was thinking about this trophy the entire day.' ___ AP golf:
10-08-2025
- Sport
Megha Ganne rallies to reach US Women's Amateur final against Brooke Biermann
BANDON, Ore. -- Megha Ganne rallied from 4 down with seven holes left to win in 19 holes Saturday and reached the championship match in the U.S. Women's Amateur against Brooke Biermann, who narrowly avoided another stunning comeback. Biermann was 3 up with three holes to play when Kansas junior Lyla Louderbaugh won the final three holes with a 10-foot birdie on the 17th and a 30-foot birdie on the 18th. But on the first extra hole at the par-4 10th, Louderbaugh hit wedge well over the green, chipped across the green into the fairway and still had 5 feet for bogey when she conceded the match to Biermann. Ganne, the highest-ranked player remaining at No. 11 in the women's amateur ranking, was on the ropes when Ella Scaysbrook of Australia holed a 40-foot birdie putt from just off the green at No. 11 to go 4 up. But the Aussie gave away two holes, chipping into a bunker on the par-3 12th and three-putting for par on the 13th. Ganne holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 15th to get within one, and Scaysbrook hit into the bushes and lost the 17th to a par. On the par-5 closing hole at Bandon Dunes, both were in bad spots off the tee, couldn't reach the green in three shots into the wind and halved the hole with bogeys. The 19th hole was nearly a repeat to the previous match. Scaysbrook went over the back of the green at No. 10. Ganne stuffed her wedge into 6 feet and never had to putt. The Aussie took two chips before conceding the birdie. Ganne, a senior-to-be at Stanford, will get a crack at her first USGA title. She reached the semifinals in the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur, and the New Jersey native nearly stole the show at Olympic Club in 2021 by contending on the weekend before claiming low amateur honors. Biermann just finished her college career at Michigan State and plans to turn pro after the U.S. Women's Amateur. The winner is exempt into the U.S. Women's Open next year at Riviera. Even though she lost a late lead, Biermann relied on experience. This was her third match since Wednesday that went extra holes. She had to go 22 holes in the second round to advance, and in the round of 16, Biermann missed a short putt on the 18th hole to go overtime and calmed herself to win in 19 holes. ___
NBC Sports
10-08-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC Sports
Megha Ganne caps dramatic U.S. Women's Amateur semis with comeback performance
BANDON, Ore. – Megha Ganne loves performing. In grade school, she starred in over a dozen plays and musicals. Her most memorable roles included the Queen of Hearts in 'Alice in Wonderland' and Pinocchio in 'Shrek The Musical.' 'That was a formative part of my childhood,' Ganne said, 'but I haven't done one since freshman year of high school.' While competitive golf has put her acting ambitions on hold in recent years, it hasn't prevented her from producing great theatre on the course. Ganne's incredible comeback Saturday at Bandon Dunes was Tony-worthy. Four down with seven holes to play in her U.S. Women's Amateur semifinal match against Australia's Ella Scaysbrook, Ganne, a rising senior at Stanford, rallied to win in 19 holes to advance to her first championship match, where she will face Michigan State graduate Brooke Biermann in Sunday's 36-hole final. Biermann also needed one hole of overtime to defeat Kansas' Lyla Louderbaugh, which marked only the third time that both semifinals of this championship went to extras. The last occasion was 2018, 118 years after the first, the 1900 U.S. Women's Amateur at Shinnecock. Ganne isn't shy to admit her hopes had dwindled once Scaysbrook drained a 40-foot birdie putt at the par-4 11th hole to go 4 up. But she then tapped into her memory bank, specifically the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur, the only other time she'd advanced to the semifinals. Ganne was 15 years old, the youngest in the match-play field by four years, and facing then-Stanford senior Albane Valenzuela, who jumped out to an early 3-up lead on Ganne. Though she lost that day, Ganne fought back to extend the match to 19 holes. Since then, Ganne, now a seven-time U.S. Women's Amateur competitor, has dug out of similar holes and won. Ganne's message to herself while walking to the 12th tee: 'There is no reason you should think bad of yourself right now. If you told yourself at 15 this is where you would be, you would be pretty proud of yourself. You're exactly the type of person that could make this happen right now. Let's just go do it.' Scaysbrook certainly played a role in the ensuing drama. She left her second shot in a bunker at the par-3 12th and conceded that hole. Then she missed a 4-footer for birdie that lost her the par-5 13th. 'That was the first putt I've seen her miss all day,' Ganne said. Two holes later, Scaysbrook's chip at the par-3 15th took an unfortunate bounce and rolled into the sand, causing the Aussie to concede another hole. Ganne tied it up on the par-4 17th, where Scaysbrook fanned her approach off the side of the cliff. Both competitors traded bogeys at the par-5 closing hole to send the match to the par-4 10th again. Brooke Biermann watches her tee shot at the 18th hole during the semifinals of the 2025 U.S. Women's Amateur at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Darren Carroll/USGA) Darren Carroll/USGA Museum Up ahead, Biermann and Louderbaugh were putting the finishing touches on their instant classic. Biermann led 3 up with four holes to play before Louderbaugh made par from the carry bunker at the short, par-4 16th, and then rolled in birdie putts of 15 and 25 feet, respectively, on the last two holes. But Louderbaugh's second shot into the shallow 10th green went long, and after she failed to make her par, she conceded the match. 'Coming down the stretch, she threw everything she had, which was great golf, and with that, you just have to stay calm,' said Biermann, who has now played three matches that have surpassed 18 holes. Biermann's extended run comes after she'd failed to make the cut in her five previous USGA championships. 'I told my dad, I just need to get over that hurdle, and the hurdle was the cut,' Biermann said. 'I know myself. I've played in several match play events, and I've gotten to the semifinals multiple times (most recently at the Women's Western Amateur last month). I love match play. Like that's where the fun begins. So, I believe that I could do this.' Once the first match wrapped, that paved the way for Ganne to eliminate Scaysbrook, who sailed her approach even longer than Louderbaugh on No. 10. Ganne didn't even have to stroke her birdie putt before the curtain fell on Scaysbrook. 'All you need to do is just go hit good shots and something will happen for you if it's meant to be,' Ganne said. 'Today was meant to be.' All that's left to play out now is Sunday's final act: History for Ganne, or tragedy?
