Asterisk Talley, Augusta National and a tearful lesson learned

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Her parents greeted her outside the Augusta National clubhouse, giving their 17-year-old daughter hugs to sooth the heartbreak. But cradled in the arms of her father James and mother Brandii, the tears returned once more.

Anyone who watched Asterisk Talley during Saturday’s final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur came away with an appreciation that she is one of the most talented female golfers in the world. What they also saw, however, is that she is still just a high school junior with lessons to learn, some that painfully will happen in public.

A three-over 75, the fourth highest score among the 32 golfers that afternoon, was not what Talley expected to sign for on Saturday, finishing six shots back of the eventual winner, Colombia’s Maria Jose Marin.

Not when you consider that Talley had gone three days and 46 holes without making a bogey, looking very much in control of a tournament in which she had finished T-8 at age 15 and runner-up at age 16. Even when she posted her first black number at the par-4 11th hole, she still held a share of the lead with Marin at 13 under par.

Yet in the next 20 minutes, everything changed. Golf happened, golf at Augusta National more specifically, where the shortest hole on the course, the 145-yard par-3 12th that has sabotaged many a golfer’s dreams of victory, grabbed another victim. 

Still in a bit of a fog, Talley tried to make sense of what happened over in Amen Corner:

Long off the tee with an 8-iron (“it was just a mis-club”) into the back bunker. A skinny second shot (“The sand didn't really have a lot in there”) that trickled over the green into Rae’s Creek. A repeat with her fourth shot (“I didn't think going to the other side was the best option at the time.”) after deciding to take a drop in the same bunker. An up-and-down from the other side of the water for a quadruple-bogey 7, and Talley now was trailing Marin by four shots.

“I just didn't think that was going to be my position from the tee box,” Talley said through a cracked voice. “I didn't think I would have to be in that situation at all. It shows how hard that hole is and how much it has messed up other people as well.”

Talley says she was resolved to keep fighting, birdieing the par-5 13th hole. But there was no regrouping. A bogey on the par-5 15th after a poor tee shot and another long approach, proceeded a pulled tee shot into the water on the par-3 16th. One last birdie on 17 at least brought a temporary smile.

If there was a regret in what happened on the 12th hole, it was perhaps in the decision to play a second shot from the bunker. “I didn’t think going to the other side was the best option at the time,” Talley explained. “I thought, since we could rake the bunker, maybe we could get it to not be so hard. It was still the same after dropping. Of course, when you drop, your ball sits down in the bunker. The same thing happened. Just couldn’t really get under the ball there. Decided the third time, why not just chip?”

Making the loss more painful was the fact that Talley said she felt the backing of the crowd through much of the day as she played in the final pairing with Sweden’s Meja Ortengren.

“I'm just a little emotional, not only because I didn't get it done today, but also just everyone is so supportive,” Talley said. “It's hard when they have to watch that and see you not do well or not accomplish what you wanted. I still played fine today even though that one hole just kind of got me.”

It was a fate no one wished upon Talley, including the eventual champion. “What happened to Asterisk, I do not wish it to any golfer,” said Marin, who shot a closing 68 to seize the opportunity. “She was playing incredible golf. … I think she just has to be really proud of herself, just accomplishing what she accomplished last year here and all that she has to accomplish. Just keeping her head up because it's really, really hard to go through that.”

It wasn’t just her parents there to consoled her after the round. Annika Sorenstam spoke to her coming off the 18th green. "Yeah, she said you're the best. She said you're the best player out here. Just don't let this get to your head. Don't let it beat you up. You're still such a good golfer. It's just kind of something you have to think about coming out of this event." 

Two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau, who shared the same swing instructor (Mike Schy) with Talley back in California, arrived at Augusta National ahead of next week's 90th Masters about the time Talley was making the turn. He spoke with Asterisk briefly as well after she walked off the 18th hole and then spent five more minutes with her after she talked to the media.

“It’s not easy to go through something like that. I’ve gone through situations quite similar,” DeChambeau said. “But just there to support her and say look this round of golf isn’t what defines you. … It’s how you act, how you hold yourself, how you inspire kids. All the autographs you sign … that’s what matters most."

Indeed, DeChambeau knows from tough finishes particularly at Augusta National, having led the 2025 Masters with 16 holes to play only to finish four back of eventual winner Rory McIlroy.

“I’ve learned a lot. I’ve become a better thinker around the course, not just this course but in general. From the losses you learn the most. That’s what I pretty much told her.

“She’s going to be fine. She’s going to be one of the best players in the world one day. And she knows it. I told her the most important thing is how you handle yourself and how you showcase yourself to inspire others.”

Talley echoed the thoughts. “It gives me that motivation to do better. You look back and think I made a big mistake. If you just erase that, I had a pretty good day. You just kind of have to think the little mistakes don't define you as a golfer. I think you kind of just have to look at the good and go from there.”

There will be better days ahead for Talley, who in two weeks will play in the LPGA's Los Angeles event on a sponsor's exemption. She'll win again, perhaps even find herself on the leaderboard at next year's Augusta National Women's Amateur.

But there will also be a lingering thought that comes to every golfer who suffers a frustrating loss: Oh, what might have been.