If you love the Ryder Cup then you need to tune into the Golf Channel this weekend to watch the Walker Cup. This year the Walk Cup is being played in Ireland at Lahinch Golf Club (The Old Course) so be ready to get up early if you want to watch the early matches live. Golf Channel times:
Saturday, September 5:3:30 am to 8 am (Morning Foursomes); 9 am to 2 pm (Afternoon Singles). There are four foursome matches and and eight singles matches
Sunday, September 6:3:30 am to 8 am (Morning Foursomes); 9 am to 2 pm (Afternoon Singles). There are four foursome morning matches and 10 singles matches.
I assume the Golf Channel will rebroadcast in the evening but I can’t find any times listed.
The Teams: On paper the USA should win over GB&I (Great Britain and Ireland) because the world amateur golf rankings for the USA team members are all in the top 25 and GB&I team members world amateur golf rankings are not as strong. GB&I does have two top ten players (Tyler Weaver and Luke Poulter) but the rest of the team are not as high in the rankings.
The USA team really is impressive and if you want to learn more about each member you can read Team USA bios on the USGA website. The website also has the team GB&I bios.
Now I think there are a number of reasons the GB&I team can give the USA a run for their money:
(1) It’s a home game for GB&I which always seems to make a difference.
(2) A few of the top players on the USA side have not shown very good form in recent big amateur events. Specifically, the #1 player in the WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings) Preston Stout and #4 Ethan Fang did not make the cut to match play at the U.S. Amateur.
(3) If GB&I can get off to a fast start and win the majority of the alternate shot matches that would help; we all remember how that was the advantage for Team Europe at the most recent Ryder Cup.
Cheering for the USA
Team USA (defending champions) needs 13 points to win and GB&I need 13.5 points to win. I am definitely cheering for Team USA. I want to see good golf on both sides so that it is exciting to watch. I never really enjoy blowouts (unless the points don’t really indicate the closeness of matches). I want to see it come down to the single matches on the last day to decide the winning team.
Next UP – THE SOLHEIM CUP is the following week from September 7 to 13, 2026. It is being hosted by Team Europe in Netherlands at Bernardus Golf. And yes, I will post a blog post next week with all the details.
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur: This USGA Championship is being contested in New Jersey at Montclair Golf Club. The U.S. Women’s Mid-Am. has an age requirement – you must be 25 years old by the first day of the championship. However, there is no upper limit age so amateur female golfers who played in the recent U.S. Women’s Senior Open will also play this championship.
The fun thing about the Mid-Amateur is that many of the players have jobs and this is how they use their vacation days. The USGA put a fun video on Facebook where women shared their day jobs. If you are on Facebook here is the link to the video post.
U.S. Senior Amateur: The U.S. Senior Amateur is also being conducted the same week as the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur at Baltimore Country Club in Maryland. I’m not a big follower of men’s senior amateur golf so I don’t have any fun facts to share.
The only player results I have an interest in following is Todd White; who lives in South Carolina. White has won the U.S. Senior Amateur (2023) and the R&A British Senior Amateur (2024) and the U.S. Four-Ball (2013). He was a history teacher in Spartanburg but in 2025 went to a private school to be the head golf coach. White also went to Furman University where a number of famous golfers played college golf; including Brad Faxon, Dottie Pepper, Beth Daniel, and Betsy King.
Format for Championships: Format for both championship includes two days of stroke play and four days of match play. The match play final is 18 holes. This is different from other USGA championships where the final match play is 36 holes. Also,18 hole match play finals are used for the U.S. Mid-Amateur (Men) and U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.
How to Watch: Unfortunately there is no broadcast coverage but the USGA will post highlight videos on the USGA Website and the USGA YouTube Channel. And you can always follow the scoring live on the USGA App or Website; and the USGA usually posts updates and interesting shots on social media.
If you told me at the start of the week not one top 10 ranked (WAGR) male golfer would make the quarter finals I would not believe it but that is what has happened at the 2026 U.S. Amateur.
Here are how the top ten amateur golfers fared at the championship:
#1 Preston Stout – Missed the cut (+6) and did not make it to match play.
#2 Tyler Weaver – Did not compete due to a back injury.
#3 Tyler Watts – Made it to match play and lost in the round of 16; 1 down to Jay Leng, jr.
#4 Miles Russell – He was my favorite (#1 Jr in world) but shockingly lost in the round of 64 going 19 holes against Ryder Cowan (#8 WAGR). It was a very exciting match to watch.
#5 Williams Jennings – He is from Greenville, SC so I was cheering for him but he lost in the round of 16 to Carter Loftin going 19 holes.
#6 Luck Poulter – Yes, the son of Ian Poulter. He shot +6. He had a chance to go to match play but in the playoff (stroke play) he did not secure one of the 11 spots (out of 16 players in the playoff).
#7 Josiah Gilbert – Lost by 3 with 2 holes to play in round of 64 to Zackary Swanwick
#8 Ryder Cowan – Played well but lost in 20 holes to Logan Reilly (Ranked #47 in WAGR). After Cowan took out Miles Russell in the round of 64 I thought he might win it all.
#9 Ethan Fang – Missed the cut (+5). He was a player that the press made a big deal about a few years ago but he has not lived up to their hype.
#10 Tim Wiedermeyer – from Germany; Missed the cut (+4)
So, of the 8 men that have made the quarter finals today (Friday, August 14, 2026) the highest ranked golfer is Jack Turner ranked 19th. Turner is a senior at University of Florida (Gators). The next highest ranked (WAGR #23) is Jay Leng, Jr. (a junior at Standford University).
Logic would say that Jay Leng is now the betting man’s favorite because he took out #3 in the world (and #2 seed in the match play standings), Tyler Watts. And Leng has been playing well all season most recently winning the Western Amateur. But given how this championship has been going, I have no idea who will lift the trophy on Sunday.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur was just completed on Sunday August 9 with Asterisk Talley winning 8&6. Now it is time for the most prestigious amateur men’s event – the U.S. Amateur.
Today, Monday August 10 the stroke play has already begun with 312 competitors playing two courses; Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club. The match play portion of the championship will be played at Merion Golf Club. Match play will begin on Wednesday with the round of 64. You can follow live scoring on the USGA website.
How To Watch: Peacock and Golf Channel will be broadcasting the following match play rounds:
Wednesday, August 12 Round of 64: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, August 13 Round of 16: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Friday, August 14 Quarterfinals: Peacock/NBCSN, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, August 15 Semifinals: Peacock, 3 p.m.-4 p.m. Semifinals: NBC, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, August 16 Championship Match (Afternoon 18), Peacock, 3 p.m.-4 p.m. Championship Match (Afternoon 18): NBC, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
Players to Watch: There are so many amazing young golfers but let’s start with the reigning U.S. Open Champion, Mason Howell. Howell is ranked 49th in the WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings) and plays college golf for the University of Georgia. I don’t think he will win back-to-back.
Other players that are top Amateurs are Preston Stout (#1 WAGR), Miles Russell (#3 WAGR), Luke Poulter (#4 WAGR) and the son of Ian Poulter. Ethan Fang (#9) and Luke Colton (#48) are Americans that also get a lot of press from the golf analysts.
I will also keep my eye on Stewart Hagestad who is 39, won the U.S. Mid-Am in 2016 and was the Low Amateur at the Masters with a T37 finish in 2017. He has also been on five Walker Cup teams including last years 2025 winning team.
The oldest player in the field is Mike McCoy (63). McCoy was the 2025 U.S. Senior Amateur Champion and that qualified him for the U.S. Amateur. He has had a very storied amateur career winning the 2022 British Senior Amateur Champion and the U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion in 2013, and two U.S. Four-Ball Championship in 2015 and 2019. Plus he has captained the Walk Cup. He has even more accomplishments that you can read in his bio from the Iowa Golf Association.
Finally the youngest players Landon Tudor and Bento Assis both 15 years old. Of course, there are a number of 16 year old golfers in the field (which speaks to the age of golfers with amazing games getting younger and younger).
SIDE NOTE: The youngest player in the U.S. Womens Amateur last week was Maggie Ma (14). She is from California and advanced to the quarterfinals where you played Asterisk Talley forcing the match to 19 holes where Talley took the win. That is very impressive considering Talley won the championship overall by 8&6..
So do you have a favorite golfer playing in the U.S. Amateur this week? I would like to see Miles Russell win since he was just the runner-up at the U.S. Junior Amateur. But it will be fun to watch all the golf and hopefully it will be an exciting Championship.
The professional majors are all completed so you may think there are no more big competitions to follow other than the FEDEX Cup; however, there are some prestigious amateur championships to be contended in the next few months.
This week is the U.S. Women’s Amateur with stroke play rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday and match play rounds on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The championship is being hosted at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, TN. The good news is that the Golf Channel will be broadcasting match play. The times of broadcast (EST) are:
Thursday, August 6: Round of 64 (11 am to 2 pm)
Friday, August 7: Round of 16 (3 pm to 6 pm)
Saturday, August 8: Quarter Finals (9 am to 12 Noon)
Sunday, August 9: Championship Match (3 pm to 6 pm)
If you follow women’s amateur golf then you will recognize the names of many of the players that should make it to match play: Farah O’Keefe (#4 WAGR), Aphrodite Dang (#7 WAGR, #14 AJGA), Asterisk Talley (#8 WAGR, #1 AJGA), Soomin Oh (#9 WAGR) and Riane Malixi (#9 WAGR).
Also, exempt into the field are the following: (1) Clairy Lin is Canadian (16 years old) and is the current U.S. Girls’ Junior Champion and (2) Dawn Woodard of Greenville, SC the 2025 Senior Women’s Amateur champion. Woodard is 51 but she is not the oldest player, that honor goes to Sue Wooster of Australia who is 64. It would be fun to see a senior player make it to match play. On the other side, the youngest play is Maggie Ma of the USA who is 14 years old.
One other player I will keep my eye on is Rachel Heck. She is 24 years old and played at Stanford and is probably most famous for being in the ROTC Air Force program while on the Standford golf team winning 9 individual tournament titles and NCAA Individual champion in 2021.
There are so many great amateur players that it is hard to predict who will win. So if I were to pick from the players above I would think two good bets would be Farrah O’Keefe who won the NCAA Individual championship this year; or Asterisk Talley the #1 AJGA player. I can’t see Heck or Woodard winning against the younger girls but it would be something to see if it did happen.
If you love amateur golf then you will be happy to know that next week the U.S. Amateur will be conducted at Merion Golf Club where Justin Rose won the U.S. Open in 2013. The U.S. Amateur will be August 10 through August 16, 2026.
There was lots of golf to watch this week and I was surprised at the outcomes in men’s amateur golf, the women’s professional game and the men’s professional game.
U.S. Jr. Amateur at Saucon Valley
The USGA championships are a grind with two days of stroke play to finish in the top 64 to advance to match play.
I was fully expecting Miles Russell to win the U.S. Amateur. He is ranked #1 in the AJGA (American Junior Golf Rankings) and #7 in WAGR (World Amateur Golf Rankings). Russell sailed through stroke play as “medalist” (meaning he finished in first place in stroke play).
In match play Russell won his first match 6 and 5, the next won 4 and 2, the next match won 2 up; and won his quarter final match 6 and 5 and his semifinal match 2 and 1. In the final, championship match, they play 36 holes (18 morning then lunch and 18 in the afternoon). Russell’s opponent was Noah Maclauchlan with an AJGA ranking of 31 and a WAGR of 2,047. Maclauchlan got into the championship as an alternate and did great finishing T39 to make it into stroke play.
Noah Maclauchlan won the U.S. Jr. Amateur against Miles Russell 6 and 5 (ending on the 31st hole). It was certainly nice to see the “under dog” win; but I also felt it was a very disappointing final. It was televised on golf channel and you could see that Russell was off his game all day (with a two-way miss). Russell fought hard but was down in the match the majority of the day. Frankly I feel like this is the problem with the national amateur championships being settled by match play. My opinion is that it just seems if you want to crown the best player in the world then you need to have the championship be stroke play.
Scottish Women’ Open
Jenny Shin won the Scottish Women’s Open. It is her first win in 10 years. Shin is Korean and her other win 10 years ago was the 2016 Volunteers of American Texas Shootout.
Happy for Shin but it was another odd tournament where the big names did not show up to the party. Nelly Korda finished T16 (+2), Lottie Woad finished T37 (+7), and Charley Hull finished T44 (+10). Now every player faced the same cold and windy conditions and only seven players were under par; Shin had two great rounds of 66 and 67 to start and that gave her a huge buffer going into Sunday so that even shooting 75 in the final round she was able to win at 9 under (two strokes ahead of second place.)
Let’s hope at the AIG Women’s Open (which follows the Scottish Open) the big names have a better week.
Jackson Koivun
You know the name Jackson Koivun if you follow college golf because he has been the top golfer for a few years; with an all time NCAA career scoring average record at 68.89 and won every major award for men in college golf. He helped Auburn win the NCAA D1 championship in June (of this year) and in his third PGA Tour tournament start this week he won the 3M Open with a score of 25 under par; and holding off world #1, Scottie Scheffler who finished 22 under par.
We have seen other players come out of PGA Tour University (a program that let’s the #1 college golfer go straight to the PGA Tour) and win (remember Nick Dunlap) but many of those players haven’t made much of a splash lately. Will Jackson Koivun be the “one in a million” that comes out and gives the current superstars a run for their money? A number of PGA Tour pro were asked about Koivun’s game. Most Pros just praised his game but the funniest reply I heard was from Ben Griffin who shared that he joked with Koivun (when he played with him while he was still an amateur), “Tell me when you are going to turn pro so I can plan my retirement.”
One final thing that was interesting, the reporter interviewing Koivun after the win asked what was written on his glove. He said “Confidence, Trust, and Dominate.” Here is the clip on Instagram
Another major golf championship and another week of “must watch golf television.”
REASONS TO WATCH
(1) The Course: Riviera Country Club in LA is an old school course and always a “test” for the men on the PGA Tour. It’s the first time a women’s major has been brought to this iconic course. The most famous hole is the 6th hole, par 3 with the bunker in the middle of the green. Fun fact, regular members are not allowed to chip over the bunker while on the green; but pros can chip during a championship (and that is because they can do it without taking a divot). The other hole that is discussed frequently is hole #10 where the player needs to decide which fairway to drive (the right or left side).
(2) The Players: For me, it’s about the best women golfers in the world wanting to win the oldest and most important major for women’s golf. Who do I want to see get lots of television coverage and win:
Nelly Korda – this is obvious as the #1 player in the world. But more interesting is that she has not played well in previous U.S. Women’s Open. Perhaps it’s been a mental issue – it means too much? Or just fatigue. Nelly has completely changed her routine to “rest and not play” LPGA events the week before big events. It’s seems to be working since she won the first major of the year, The Chevron. And, it’s also exciting to watch to see if she can win the first two majors of the year. She has been playing great – she has played 7 events, won three times (including a major) and placed second three times.
And I am a fan of Charley Hull, Brooke Henderson and Lauren Coughlin so I would be happy if any one of them won the championship; but I think it might be an up hill battle if Korda comes to Riviera in great form. If Nelly doesn’t win then I think Hannah Green or Lottie Woad might be a good bet.
(3) New Pro that just played in the NCAA D1 Women’s Championship: Megha Ganne (from Stanford) and the reigning 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion. She is on a high with Stanford winning the Team NCAA D1 Championship just a few weeks ago. Ganne has an infectious personality and a solid game so hopefully she plays well and gets tv time.
(4) Amateurs to Watch: Kiara Romero (University of Oregon from the USA) is the #1 Female Amateur in the world. Romero shot a final round 5 under (67) in the last round of the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills. What was truly remarkable was the fact that on Saturday she shot an 84 (so a 17 shot improvement). Farah O’Keefe (University of Texas from the USA) just won the NCAA D1 Individual title a few weeks ago. Maria Jose Marin (University of Arkansas from Columbia) is the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion. Asterisk Talley is a 17-year-old that took home co-low amateur at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open. Aphrodite Deng (from Canada) is the 2025 U.S. Girls Junior Champion. There are many more I could list but these are the one’s I will keep an eye on for the low-amateur title.
Finally, it is “must watch television” because it is the most important major in women’s professional golf!
HOW TO WATCH
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: Watch on USA Network from 2 pm to 7 pm and then replay on NBCSN (or Steam on Peacock) 7 pm to 10 pm
SATURDAY (Moving Day): Watch on NBC from 5 pm to 7 pm and Peacock 7 pm to 10 pm
SUNDAY (Championship Round): Watch on NBC from 3 pm to 5 pm on NBCSN and 5 pm to 8 pm on NBC; or stream 3 pm to 8 pm on Peacock.
I was looking at the USGA website to follow the Men’s Amateur Four-Ball championship and I was struck by the ages of the men; especially after following the Women’s Amateur Four-Ball earlier this year.
If you are not familiar with the USGA Four-Ball Amateur Championship, there are 128 sides (two golfers on a side or team) and 256 total competitors. They play two rounds of four-ball stroke play to get the field down to 64 sides (teams) that will participate in match play over three days. Day 1 has 64 sides (or 32 matches), Day 2 has 16 matches, and Day 3 is the semifinal matches and the final match for the championship.
The USGA Website lists the age breakdown of championship events and If you look at the Women’s field versus the Men’s field it is really striking but after thinking about it, not as surprising as I first thought.
So here is a quick comparison of ages for the 4-ball championships:
For me the striking comparison is the total players age 31 to 60 with 149 men playing in the 2026 Amateur 4-ball and only seven (yes, seven) women in the age range of 31-60 in the 2026 Women’s Amateur 4-ball.
After some thought I basically believe it is the cycle of life that represents the age difference; and you see this in professional golf too. If you are a fan of the LPGA you know that when the ladies get into their 30s many retire (or take a leave) to have children. Yes, the LPGA has great day care but I think it is still very difficult for women to be professional golfers and raise their children. But it can be done! Julie Inkster is famous for balancing her professional golf career and raising her two daughters.
I did google the topic and a number of other “reasons” were listed such as:
(1) Physical Development – I found it interesting that one point made was that young female golfers can achieve the driving distance of their older female counterparts sooner. While boys do not have the physical ability to achieve the same driving distance that is required in the power game of men’s golf (hitting drives over 300 yards). So you will see a thirteen year old girl driving it as far as an LPGA player but you won’t see a thirteen year old boy driving it as long as a PGA Tour player. Interesting premise.
(2) Women that have the skills to turn professional do it at a younger age then men turning professional. I think it is true that women turn professional sooner because they are aware that by 30 they may want to start a family. And of course there was the “Michelle Wei” effect on the LPGA. However, this may also be changing as you see players like Blades Brown turning pro at 16 and playing on the Korn Ferry tour. But what that doesn’t solve is the question as to why so many elite amateur female golfers that do not turn pro, also do not continue competing in elite amateur golf.
There are women that continue to play after college golf if you look at the USGA Mid-Amateur Championships which are for men or women 25 years or older. It is interesting to note that the field size is different. The men’s Mid-Am. has 264 competitors and the women’s Mid-Am field is 132 competitors.
Even in the amateur golf (casual leagues) I play in you see that most of the women are past child rearing age so it’s not just about having a job that keeps them from playing. But once the kids are off to college a lot of women find golf again and enjoy playing.
I will say it is nice to see more women in their 20 and 30s recognizing the importance of golf from a business/career perspective; and I do see more young couples playing on the weekends. But as far as serious amateur competition goes I do think we will continue to see the age gaps. However, with young girls being the fastest growing demographic in golf it would not surprise me if in the future more women find their way to elite competitive golf.
Maria Jose Marin, from Colombia and a stand out at University of Arkansas. She is the current NCAA D1 individual champion. She really was not on my radar (probably because she missed the cut last year at ANWA); but should have been on my list given I did watch her win the NCAA D1 Championship last spring. She is not a particularly long hitter (normally a must for winners at Augusta National) but clearly her short game is elite.There were multiple times during her round where she saved par and that made the difference (and a bit of luck on the 12th hole also played a role in the overall outcome).
Her winning way was with her putter! She had some chunky approach shots but her putter was on fire. She was quoted early in the week saying “My putter is my best friend.” Marin’s Scorecard was impressive with six birdies and only two bogies. And she was the only player to score in the 60s (65, 69, and 68) for all three rounds.
When interviewed Marin said this was her fourth time playing in ANWA and her key to winning was setting a strategy with her coach; and for the final round it was a “mental strategy.” She did not elaborate but I would love to know what that “mental strategy” was for the day.
The 12th Hole at Augusta National
The 12th hole at Augusta once again was key to the tournament. For Marin, a bit of luck on 12. For Talley bad luck (see below). Marin hit her tee shot short on 12 but it stayed on the front bank instead of rolling back into the water (which is what we usually see on 12). On Golf Central recap after the round, Brandel Chamblee noted that the only other time that a ball stayed on the bank (like Marin’s) was when Freddy Couples hit the ball on the bank and it miraculously stayed up; and he won The Masters in 1992.
The fall of Asterisk Talley was hard to watch on the 12th hole. Going into Saturday, my pick (see my per-tournament blog post), Asterisk Talley, had a one shot lead at 11 under par. It looked like Talley was cruising with 3 under par in the first four holes to get to 14 under. Then, the unthinkable happened. First, Talley made her first bogey of the tournament on hole 11; and then the nightmare on the 12th hole.
Talley hit her tee shot on 12 into the back bunker and then hit her bunker shot on the green and it rolled past the hole down the bank (where Marin’s shot sat just a few minutes earlier) and dropped into the water. Then she made a crazy decision to drop in the bunker instead of going to the other side of the water. Her second bunker shot was identical to her first and ended in the water; then she went to the other side of the water to hit onto the green. Why her caddie did not stop her from dropping in the bunker is beyond me. Bottom line, Talley ended with a seven (quadruple bogey) on hole 12. Talley’s body language and play never really recovered.
Runner Up
Andrea Revuelta (from Spain and attending Stanford University). Revuelta had a great day too with a final 10 under par (4 under at Augusta National). Her big moment was on the par three 12th where she almost made a hole-in-one when it hit the hole but did not drop in to the hole.
What I noticed most when the TV was on Revuelta was her constant smile. She look like she was having the time of her life! It was very refreshing to watch.
Past Champions in the field
The two past champions did not play that well. Tsubas Kajitani missed the cutt; as she had in her two previous appearances. So she really has not played well since her surprise win in 2022.
Anna Davis, made the cut at two under par (T23). Really there was no expectation that she would be in the mix on Saturday with the leader at 11 under par. Still to have played in five ANWA events, and win ANWA at 16, is an amazing feat for any amateur golfer.
Other Golfers Mentioned in my Pre-tournament Blog
Surprisingly some of the start amateurs that I thought would be in contention really were not and some of them; well, it just wasn’t their week.
(1) Megha Ganne – this was a big shocker that she not only missed the cut but was seven over par for the first two days of competition. Shocking because last year, she had the tournament first day record at nine under par. Ganne is a senior at Stanford and I’m sure she’ll make a run at turning pro after graduation.
(2) Kirara Romero – The #1 amateur in the WAGR was five under (T8) going into Saturday. I think she will regret the first round where she played very conservatively when all the other players took advantage of the great conditions and played aggressively.
(3) Farah O’Keefe – I really thought she would be in the top four after the first two days but she started Saturday at T18 or four under par. Of course, when the leader is at 11 under, it’s an uphill grind to be in contention on championship day.
(4) Pate and Galitsky – Two Players I mentioned from Southern Schools were Macy Pate (Wake Forest) and Ella Galitsky (University of South Carolina). Pate made the weekend T30 (even) and finished the competition three over par. Unfortunately, Galitsky missed the cut; surprising given she was in the top 10 the past two years at ANWA. It was really heartbreaking because she was at even par and on the 18th hole of the 2nd round made a bogey missing the cut by one.
It is always amazing to watch these young women play Augusta National. And I mean young! Of the 32 women that made the cut, the age range 15-23 with half being under 20.
Hopefully, Asterisk Talley will not let the 12th hole define her and she will come back next year and be in contention to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur! She has a bright future. It just reminds us that golf can be brutal even for the most talented players in the world.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur begins on Wednesday April 1, 2026. For those that don’t follow amateur women’s golf, the weekend prior to The Masters is the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA). You can read my 2025 blog post on ANWA here.
It’s a stacked field with 48 of the top 50 players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings participating. A fun fact – Ten of the women in the field previously participated (as kids) in the Drive, Chip, and Putt competition at August National.
How to Watch: Each day you can watch the competition lived streamed on the Augusta National Women’s Amateur Website, ANWAgolf..com or you can watch on Golf Channel and NBC (the final).
The first two days at Champions Retreat (Wednesday, April 1 and Thursday, April 2) are streamed and on Golf Channel from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m (EST). The final round from Augusta National (Saturday, April 4) is streamed and on NBC from Noon to 3 p.m. Note: No coverage on Friday, April 3 because all participants are at practice rounds at Augusta National.
Past Champions in the Field:
Unlike last year, when there were three past champions in the field. This year, only two past winners are playing. The 2021 champion Tsubasa Kajitani (Japan) and the 2022 Champion, Anna Davis (American) are playing.
In 2021, Kajitani won in a playoff against popular America, Emilia Migliaccio (now working for NBC Golf). The media made a big deal about the fact that the year she won, Hideki Matsuyama won The Masters so it was a “Japan sweep.” Kajitani has missed the cut the last two years so I’m not sure how she will play this year.
Davis became a media darling in 2022 because she wore a bucket hat when she won. No one really had their eye on Davis but as the leaders fell apart; the laid back Californian played her way to the win. Davis has a current world amateur golf ranking (WAGR) of 14. She has been ranked as high as seven in the world but I don’t see her as a favorite this year.
Top 10 World Amateur Golf Rankings – as of March 30,2026
I do predict that the winner of ANWA in 2026 will be one of the top 10 women in amateur golf. Below is a screenshot of the current top 10. Many will have their money on Kiera Romero, the #1 amateur player in the world but I have my eye on three other players.
(1) Megha Ganne – She is ranked six in the world and is ranked 7 on the D1 College rankings. Ganne won the USGA U.S. Women’s Amateur last summer (so she is the current champion).
Ganne has played ANWA five times with mixed results – missing the cut twice and her highest finish was last year with a T7 finish. One note of interest, in round one of ANWA in 2025, she scored a record 9 under par at Champions Retreat Golf Course. She plays for the dominating Women’s College Golf team, Stanford. Side note: Stanford has five players in the ANWA field.
(2) Asterick Talley is seventeen years old, has been a standout amateur golfer for a number of years (as a junior) and is ranked 10 on WAGR. She was the runner up at ANWA last year closing with a final round at Augusta National of 68; just one shot behind the winner. She has won a USGA championship (U.S. Amateur 4-Ball in 2024).
She is playing great going into the 2026 ANWA. She won the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley earlier this springs and last week she played in the LPGA tournament in Arizona . On Friday she shot seven under (65) and finished T29.
(3) Farah O’Keefe is a Texas University player that has been on fire this college golf season. She has won the individual title in three events this spring; and she is a long hitter which is a big advantage once the ladies get to the final round at Augusta National. I just have a good feeling about her changes and if I was not such a big fan of Asterick Talley, I would probably go with Farah O’Keefe as my pick.
Other Players I have on my “Favorites” list on the ANWA website:
There are a number of great amateur golfers I follow and so I hope they do well at ANWA. A couple of ladies that play for southern schools are:
(1) Ella Galitsky – She has been a standout in junior golf for a number of years and this is her fourth time playing in the ANWA. She has finished in the top 10 the last two years at ANWA. She is a freshman at University of South Carolina. She has also won two events on the Thai LPGA tour (she is from Thailand). She finished T8 in 2024 and T4 in 2025 at ANWA.
(2) Macy Pate – A Wake Forest player that I have enjoyed following in college golf. She missed the cut last year at ANWA (her first time) but hopefully she can make the cut this year with having had experience. She is playing well this year in college competitions.
Predictions
It’s hard to predict especially with six of the top eight players on last year’s ANWA leader board back in the field. However I if the world number one does not win then my pick is Asterisk Talley. It may be crazy to go against the norm of picking the #1 player, Kiara Romero, in women’s amateur golf because world #1’s have a history of winning ANWA; but Asterisk Talley is playing really well (last week she was T29 at the LPGA event), was runner up last year at ANWA; and it just seems like she has good momentum going into this year.
Side Note: Lucky Standford University because Talley has committed to play golf for the Cardinals.
Of course, I will add an Update to this post with the winner after Saturday.
Golf Expectations 