AUGUSTA, Ga. – Oregon head coach Derek Radley caddied for his wife, Sara, who played eight years on the LPGA. He’s looped in major championships, as recently as last summer’s U.S. Women’s Open when he was on Ducks junior Kiara Romero’s bag. He knows pressure.
“There’s no professional event that feels like the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in that final pairing,” Radley said. “With how many people are following you, how many people are on that first tee, it’s incredible. It feels like the biggest women’s event, professional or amateur, ever.”
Romero, the world No. 1, knows the moment all too well. One year ago, she found herself in that last twosome alongside then-top-ranked Lottie Woad, surrounded by a crowd six-patrons deep on the first tee. Then she blacked out.
“The stakes were super high, and I really let it get to me,” said Romero, who closed in 74 that Saturday, slipping to T-7.
Romero will likely tee off this Saturday with considerably less nerves. She double-bogeyed her second-to-last hole Thursday at Champions Retreat and eventually completed 36 holes at 4 under, seven shots back of the solo leader, 17-year-old Stanford commit Asterisk Talley. Stanford sophomore Meja Ortengren rounds out the final pairing at 10 under, where she’s tied with Arkansas junior Maria Jose Marin.
Nobody else is within four shots, making this essentially a three-horse race.
Unless, of course, something miraculous happens. The tournament record at Augusta National is 6-under 66, recorded twice. Texas junior Farah O’Keefe fired an 8-under 64, with a bogey at No. 14 and missing a 12-footer on the last for 63, in a practice round a few weeks ago, but that wasn’t in tournament conditions. Augusta National is reportedly playing firmer than in recent editions with ideal weather in the ANWA’s leadup, and then you add that major-like pressure.
Here is a closer look at the trio most likely to feel it:
Asterisk Talley (-11)
The Chowchilla High junior is arguably one of the best juniors to come along in decades. Two years ago, Talley introduced herself as a 15-year-old named after the Greek word for “little star” and wearing clothes that her dad, Jim, a corrections officer, bought off eBay. She made the cut in her ANWA debut, carded a closing 70 and tied for eighth, then last year closed in 68, kickstarted by an opening hole-out eagle, to finish runner-up, a shot back of winner Carla Bernat.
Now, she’s a world-beater. Her resume includes seven LPGA starts, including two U.S. Women’s Opens (she made the cut in both) and most recently a T-29 finish last Sunday at the Ford Championship. She’ll play No. 8 in two weeks at the JM Eagle LA Championship. Amateur-wise, Talley is coming off her second win in three years at the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley last month, and she remains the only player to ever compete in three USGA championship finals in the same year, winning the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball before runner-up showings at the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Ahead by one shot entering Saturday, Talley knows that despite her experience in the spotlight, the challenge will be nerve-racking.
“I’ve got the lead, so I should be able to extend it, right?” said Talley, who has played her last 48 holes of the ANWA without a bogey.
It won’t be easy to knock off Talley, the world’s ninth-ranked amateur. Jim has noticed a more confident kid since last year’s runner-up, saying, “I can just tell in her walk.” Part of that stems from Jim letting go of the reins a little following some advice given by Annika Sorenstam during a Q&A in January 2025. Sorenstam, the LPGA legend, explained how her game took off once her dad stopped telling her what to do. Talley is also noticeably stronger, sharing Thursday that she works out, mostly strength training, four times per week.
“I have a trainer back home that kind of has a plan for me, but sometimes I don’t really follow it,” Talley said with a laugh, reminding everyone she’s still a teenager.
Meja Ortengren (-10)
It’s not easy to impress the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, but Megha Ganne has had much respect for the 21-year-old Ortengren, who is playing her fifth ANWA this week, from the first day she arrived on Stanford’s campus.
“She has one of the best work ethics that I’ve ever seen,” Ganne said. “She’s very golf savvy and very knowledgeable about the sport and her own game and her golf swing. She’s someone I go to sometimes about my golf swing, which I wouldn’t put that in bad hands.”
It’s not just golf, either.
“She’s good at anything she picks up,” Ganne adds
Ortengren won the Nanea Invitational last fall in Hawaii, her only win this season, though she does own four other top-8 finishes. During that trip, the Cardinal went bowling. For Ortengren, who grew up in Sweden skiing, ice skating and playing hockey, it was only her second time on the lanes.
“She beat us all by a million,” said assistant Brooke Riley.
Ortegren was being modest in claiming she couldn’t remember her score, but word was she broke 200. Though Ortengren showcases a quiet, smiling exterior, don’t let that fool you, as her teammates reveal that she’s a tenacious competitor with no fear. Just a few months ago, while retreating to her family’s cabin in north Sweden for winter break, Ortengren broke out her skis and got in a few runs on the red slopes, her favorite.
“You can go fast, and it’s not getting out of control,” Ortengren said.
That kind of discipline will be required Sunday around undulating Augusta National, where Ortengren has twice cracked the top 15 but never the top 10. Her best finish was T-12, coming in her debut in 2022. Ortengren remembers walking to the first tee that year and hearing, “Hey, Meja.” She was startled to find out it was coming from her idol, Annika Sorenstam.
Ortengren has known Sorenstam for years, even winning her Annika Invitational Europe in 2021. In fact, all three ANWA contenders entering this final round have captured an Annika-supported event, with Talley winning the 2025 AJGA Annika Invitational and Marin more recently claiming the Women’s Amateur Latin America last November.
“There’s a lot of people in the U.S. you can look up to, but from Sweden, it’s very obvious that Annika has done so much and also is giving back so much to golf in Sweden right now,” Ortengren said. “So, it’s very fortunate to have her in Sweden right now, but there is a lot of younger players coming up right now from Sweden who the younger players are looking up to more.”
Becoming the first Swedish champion at Augusta National would be quite the inspiration back home.
Maria Jose Marin (-10)
On the eve of her fourth ANWA, Marin received a call from one of her role models, former Arkansas standout Maria Fassi, who famously was runner-up to Jennifer Kupcho at the inaugural ANWA in 2019.
“I told her to just go out, have fun; it’s so easy to get in your head about a week like this one, and that’s when trouble happens,” Fassi said. “Majo (Marin’s nickname) is in such a good space right now with her golf game, I just wanted her to be able to showcase that to the world. I’m very proud of the work she’s done, and yeah, I wished her good luck and told her to kick ass.”
Fassi is a frequent practice partner with Marin when both are at Blessings Golf Club, the Razorbacks’ facility in Fayetteville. Marin plays a much different style of game than the powerful Fassi, but Fassi is still impressed with how high and soft the 5-foot Marin hits the ball. Fassi’s wear patterns are aspirational, showing she always finds the center of the clubface, while Arkansas head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor states, “I’d bet my house on that kid to make an 8-footer to win.”
When she’s on, Marin is the total package, most evident by her victory last May at the NCAA Championship. She hasn’t finished worse than ninth in a college event since, though it took her until last Sunday at the Clemson Invitational to add another win. Usually a front-runner, this time Marin came from three shots back.
“Winning is what she was born to do,” Estes-Taylor said. “Every week, she kept saying, ‘I gotta win.’ And I’m like, ‘No, you don’t. Just be you, and it’s plenty good enough.’”
Fassi would argue no player is more comfortable in their abilities than Marin. Fassi was proud to see Marin go for the par-5 18th in two on Thursday at Champions Retreat and make birdie; she birdied all four par-5s in the second round. But Marin is most confident laying up to around 80 yards, hitting a 56-degree wedge close and making the putt.
“She’s a killer from that number,” Fassi said, then adding, “She’s not one to look around too much. She’s like a racehorse with blinders on, which is such an amazing characteristic to have. For me, I’d rather be in the final group. But her, she’s a working bee, she puts in the work and tallies how many birdies she made at the end of the day. She’s in a great spot to go make something great happen.”
With bad weather expected in Fayetteville on Saturday, Fassi will be glued to the television.
“I’ll be cheering her on,” Fassi said, “but obviously everybody else as well. I want these girls to show the world what they’re capable of.”