Asterisk Talley and Megan Schofill pace the amateurs at the U.S. Women's Open

May 31, 2024 | by Rick Woelfel of AmateurGolf.com

Asterisk Talley (USGA Photo)

The 15-year-old sensation Talley and Schofill are both T5 at 1-over, while Catherine Park, and Adela Cernousek also made the cut

Fifteen-year-old Asterisk Talley and reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megan Schofill head the group of four amateurs who have qualified to play the weekend at the 79th U.S. Women’s Open Championship at Lancaster Country Club.

Both stood at 1-over par 141 for 36 holes at the conclusion of Friday’s second round. The pair will start play on Saturday five shots off the pace being set by Wichanee Meechai.

Alley and Schofill are trying to make history. Catherine Lacoste, who won the Women’s Open title in 1967, is the only amateur to have done so.

Schofill is currently ranked No. 6 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Women's Rankings.

Talley, a native of Chowchilla, California, carded a 71 on Friday that combined with an opening 70. Starting on the back nine, she bogeyed the 12th and 18th before recording her only birdie of the afternoon at the par-3 sixth.

“I feel like my expectations were to at least make the cut,” she said. “That's what I wanted to do. Then if I achieved that, I wanted to get low amateur. But I feel like that's still achievable even after today's round.

“I feel like I'm doing what I want so far, and I'm really happy with where I am.”

Talley has acquired an incredible resume this year, winning the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and the 2024 U.S. Women's Four-Ball with partner Sarah Lim.

Like most of the rest of the field, amateur and professional alike. Talley’s stiffest challenges on Friday came on the greens.

“There were definitely some brutal pins out there,” she said. “I feel like some were really forgiving and some were just crazy hard.

On hole 8, I landed short of the green, and I ended up rolling out about eight feet past the pin, and it was like the scariest putt I had all day. I was just like, this is only eight feet, so let's try to get it within two-putt distance, which was kind of not what you think about.”

Schofill, who also opened with a 70 on Thursday, birdied the treacherous par-3 12th (her third hole) to move to one under par and ran off five straight pars before recording back-to-back bogeys at the 18th and first. She finished her round with eight straight pars.

Catherine Park (Irvine, California) signed for a 72 on Friday that put her at 2-over par 142 for 36 holes. Park started the day at even par but went out in 3-over par 38 but regained traction coming in, playing her second nine in one under par.

Park won the individual and final Pac-12 women's championship.

Adela Cernousek (France), the recently crowned NCAA champion, struggled on Friday, following up her opening 1-under 69 with a 9-over 79 that put her right on the cut line at 8-over par 148.

A total of 75 players (top 60 and ties) will play this weekend.

Results: U.S. Women's Open

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
T44	Asterisk Talley	Chowchilla, CA	600	70-71-78-73=292
T44	Megan Schofill	Monticello, FL	600	70-71-77-74=292
T44	Catherine Park	Irvine, CA	600	70-72-72-78=292
T67	Adela Cernousek	, France	500	69-79-69-78=295
MC	Megha Ganne	Holmdel, NJ	0	76-73=149

View full results for U.S. Women's Open

About the U.S. Women's Open

Asterisk Talley and Megan Schofill pace the amateurs at the U.S. Women's Open

The U.S. Women's Open has the biggest payout in women's golf. It is one of 15 annual championships conducted by the USGA. The event is open to any professional or amateur female golfer. There is a handicap limit for amateurs; for the 2024 event it wa...