Hours of rain in the morning softened the course a bit by the time the players returned to Southern Hills on Sunday afternoon, but it didn’t make the tricky track any easier to navigate for the players. Par won the first four holes of the final 18, including the opener where Talley extended her lead to 2 up. Then Malixi took advantage of some Talley mistakes and claimed the next four holes to flip the match in her favor. The 2025 Duke University commit made the first birdie of the day at the par-5 fifth hole to go 2 up and held that margin over the next two holes after the pair traded pars and birdies on Nos. 6 and 7.

Malixi, the No. 10-ranked amateur in the world, took the first 3-up lead of the day after a Talley three putt on the par-3 eighth, but the rising high school sophomore responded with a dart on No. 9 that was conceded for birdie to cut Malixi’s lead to 2 up at the final turn through 27 holes.

Talley rode that momentum for two more wins to start the last nine and squared the match with a birdie and par on Nos. 10 and 11, but missed a chance to retake the lead on the 12th. She flagged her approach within five feet from the rough but hit the edge with her birdie putt and settled for a tie with par.

“I just hit it too hard. Maybe just misread it a little bit,” Talley said of her missed opportunity.

The momentum flipped like a switch as Malixi made three straight birdies - the most impressive being a long, curling putt from outside 20 feet on No. 14 - to take a 3-up lead with three holes to play.

“I think on the 12th hole we tied, and then I was like, ‘Just treat the next six, seven holes as your last four holes like I did with training with my dad,’” Malixi said of her closing stretch. “And then just flipped the switch there and just kept on making birdies, and I was hitting really good shots and then putts happened to drop.”

“It was crazy seeing her birdieing four holes in a row,” Talley said of Malixi’s run. “I mean, I was just trying to make birdies to tie the holes and hopefully I could win a couple on the last.”

From the bunker guarding the right side of the par-5 16th green, Malixi hit the bottom of the pin and nearly holed out for the win. Talley then stepped up and made her putt to apply some pressure to Malixi, who remained calm and made her four footer to claim her second USGA championship of the summer in a span of just 22 days.

“Just to be my first Women's Am and being able to make it this far was really cool. I feel like I can take a lot from this week just knowing that,” Talley said after the match. “And I'm still young. I have some time left. And that I can -- even this early in my career, that I can play as well as I did.”

“And just playing against someone like Rianne and getting so far is just amazing,” Talley added. “I feel like I can just take away some good parts and some bad parts and work on what I have to work on.”

While many amateurs don’t play very many 36-hole matches, Malixi, a four-time participant in the U.S. Women’s Amateur, learned from her past experiences and worked on both her mental and physical game to prepare for her major moments.

“Honestly, it's all part of training. I think I told someone 22 days ago at (the U.S. Girls’ Junior) that it was part of my training to play with a pro, my dad's friend,” she said of her practice back home. “I would have match play with him for 36 holes and it was almost the same thing as this week, and it helped a lot.”

“I'm thankful for my dad who kept on pushing me beyond my limits,” she added. “I know I was kind of self-deprecating last year and then my dad just kind of like pep talked me. He tried to let me stay on the positive side of things. Everything is just all about perspective and I kind of realized that at the beginning of the year. Yeah, everything just went skyrocket.”

WHAT THE CHAMPION RECEIVES

- A gold medal
- Custody of the Robert Cox Trophy for one year
- Exemption into the 2025 U.S. Women's Open Presented by Ally, May 29-June 1 at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis.
- Exemption into the next 10 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships, if eligible
- Exemption into the 2024 AIG Women's Open at St. Andrews (must be an amateur)
- Exemptions into the 2025 Chevron Championship and Amundi Evian Championship (must be an amateur)
- Invitation to the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur

NOTABLE

- Runner-up Asterisk Talley is also exempt into the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open (must remain an amateur) and the next three U.S. Women’s Amateurs. She also received a silver medal.
- Next year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur will be contested at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore., from Aug 4-10.
- The USGA has held eight amateur championships at Bandon Dunes, most recently the 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur. The resort has also hosted the Curtis Cup (2006), U.S. Mid-Amateur Golf Championship (2007), U.S. Amateur Public Links (2011) and U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links (2011), U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball (2015), U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (2019), U.S. Amateur (2020), U.S. Junior Amateur (2022). Bandon will host 12 additional USGA championships through 2045.
- Talley is the first player to compete in three USGA championship final matches in the same year (U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, U.S. Girls’ Junior, U.S. Women’s Amateur).