The bracket that opened Thursday with 64 names and a lightning-scarred oak tree is down to eight. A grueling Friday bled into Saturday morning at Ooltewah — three weather suspensions in three days — and when the Round of 16 finally emptied out, the survivors looked nothing like the seed list anyone drew up Tuesday night. The medalist is still standing. So is the youngest player in the field, all 14 years of her. The 2024 champion is not. Neither is the world No. 4, nor the Memphis folk hero. Here's who's left, how they got here, and who we like to be holding the trophy Sunday night.
Quarterfinals begin Saturday, 9 a.m. ET · Golf Channel, 9 a.m.–noon ET (quarters), 3–6 p.m. ET (semis) · 36-hole final Sunday
Quarterfinal 1 · 9:10 a.m. ET
No. 1 Anna Iwanaga vs. No. 24 Seojin Park
Anna Iwanaga (Japan, 17, WAGR No. 19) has been the metronome of this championship. She opened with a 5-under 67 in her U.S. Women's Amateur debut to lead Round 1 outright, held on through a storm-and-darkness Wednesday to share medalist honors at 6-under 138, and has now advanced through match play without ever trailing in the Round of 16 — a 2-and-1 win over Canada's Michelle Xing. She arrived with a loaded 2025 résumé: seven World Amateur Golf Ranking wins, a Junior World title, a Japan Step Up Tour (pro) victory, and runner-up at the Japan Women's Amateur. The wrinkle that's charmed the grounds all week: caddie Courtney Brazier, a local, communicates yardages through a translation app — and Iwanaga, in Brazier's telling, understands the numbers perfectly.
Seojin Park (Korea, 18, WAGR No. 31) is the quietest live threat left. Playing match play at this championship for the first time — she lost on the fourth playoff hole at Bandon Dunes last year just trying to reach the bracket — Park has made it count, ousting 2025 semifinalist Ella Scaysbrook in the Round of 16. She's a proven winner (2023 Maekyung Amateur) who now gets a crack at the medalist.
Our read: Iwanaga's ball-striking has been the most reliable thing on the property, but medalists have a way of running out of gas in this event. Park is the kind of clean, unflappable player who springs a semifinal surprise. Lean: Iwanaga, narrowly.
Quarterfinal 2 · 9:40 a.m. ET
No. 52 Pinky Chaisilprungruang vs. No. 44 Gabrielle Nicastro
Pinky Chaisilprungruang (Thailand, 20, WAGR No. 66) authored one of the runs of the week. The Charlotte junior — a Golfweek All-America selection after her freshman season — knocked out Memphis's own Rachel Heck, the nine-time competitor and hometown story, to reach her first quarterfinal. She made the Round of 32 here a year ago; this is a level up.
Gabrielle Nicastro (Huntsville, Ala., 21, WAGR No. 380) is the longest shot left in the bracket by ranking, and she's earned every inch of it. The Samford senior won the Alabama State Women's Amateur to get into the field, and in only her second U.S. Women's Amateur appearance she's dispatched a string of higher-ranked players — most recently LSU's Ryleigh Knaub, 2 and 1. This is the one all-underdog quarterfinal, which guarantees a first-time semifinalist emerges from it.
Our read: Match play doesn't check WAGR. Pinky has the higher ceiling and the college standard-of-competition edge, but Nicastro is playing with house money and nothing to lose. Lean: Chaisilprungruang — with the caveat that this is the match most likely to go 19 holes.
Quarterfinal 3 · 10:30 a.m. ET
No. 34 Lily Peng vs. No. 26 Yujie Liu
Lily Peng (San Ramon, Calif., 17, WAGR No. 69) is the grinder of the group. The UCLA commit needed 21 holes to outlast Lindsay McGrath in the Round of 16 — the longest single match of anyone still alive — and reached her first U.S. Women's Amateur quarterfinal on the strength of it. She's in form: a winner at the NGCA Women's Amateur earlier this summer and a Round-of-16 finisher at the U.S. Girls' Junior three weeks ago.
Yujie Liu (China, 16, WAGR No. 20) might be the most dangerous name in the bottom half not called Talley. She already owns two professional-event wins — including this year's Orient Masters Beijing Women's Open — finished runner-up at last week's Girls Junior PGA Championship, and took out USC senior Bailey Shoemaker 2 and 1 on Saturday morning. She made the cut at a full-field LPGA event (the Blue Bay LPGA) as a teenager. The résumé travels.
Our read: Peng's 21-hole marathon showed serious spine, but Liu's ceiling — pro wins at 16, a runner-up seven days ago — is the highest on this side of the bracket. Lean: Liu, and she's our pick to reach Sunday from the bottom half if Talley slips.
Quarterfinal 4 · 10:40 a.m. ET
No. 3 Asterisk Talley vs. No. 40 Maggie Ma
Asterisk Talley (Chowchilla, Calif., 17, WAGR No. 8) is the last big seed standing and, at No. 8 in the world, the highest-ranked player left in the field. Her match-play pedigree here is unmatched: 2024 runner-up, 2025 co-medalist, and in 2024 the first player ever to reach three USGA final matches in a single year. She took down Rachel Lee 3 and 2 on Saturday morning and nearly holed her tee shot at the par-3 8th along the way. A 2026 Curtis Cup player fresh off wins at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, she is the closest thing this bracket has to a favorite — and she's chasing the one trophy that's eluded her.
Maggie (Jiayi) Ma (Irvine, Calif., 14, WAGR No. 307) is the story of the championship. The youngest player in the entire 156-player field won the California Women's Amateur to get here, then knocked off reigning U.S. Girls' Junior champion Clairey Lin in the Round of 16 — holing out for birdie from a greenside bunker to force extra holes, then winning in 19. The detail that says everything: she did not lead a single hole all match and still found a way through. She's playing for a piece of history — the youngest U.S. Women's Amateur champion ever.
Our read: On paper it's a mismatch — No. 8 in the world against a 14-year-old ranked 307th. But Ma has ice water in her veins and just beat a USGA champion without ever being ahead. Talley is too complete and too motivated to let this be the upset, and she'll want a fast start to take the crowd out of it. Lean: Talley — but do not miss a minute of it.
Quarterfinal Field at a Glance
| Seed | Player | From | Age | WAGR | Round of 16 result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anna Iwanaga | Japan | 17 | 19 | def. Michelle Xing, 2&1 |
| 24 | Seojin Park | Korea | 18 | 31 | def. Ella Scaysbrook |
| 52 | Pinky Chaisilprungruang | Thailand | 20 | 66 | def. Rachel Heck |
| 44 | Gabrielle Nicastro | Huntsville, Ala. | 21 | 380 | def. Ryleigh Knaub, 2&1 |
| 34 | Lily Peng | San Ramon, Calif. | 17 | 69 | def. Lindsay McGrath, 21 holes |
| 26 | Yujie Liu | China | 16 | 20 | def. Bailey Shoemaker, 2&1 |
| 3 | Asterisk Talley | Chowchilla, Calif. | 17 | 8 | def. Rachel Lee, 3&2 |
| 40 | Maggie Ma | Irvine, Calif. | 14 | 307 | def. Clairey Lin, 19 holes |
The Bracket That Burned
What's not in this final eight tells the story as loudly as what is. The 2024 champion, Rianne Malixi — the only past champion in the field and the most decorated player in it — is gone, a year after she entered the 2025 championship as the No. 1 seed and lost in the Round of 64. World No. 4 Farah O'Keefe, the NCAA champion and 5-0 Curtis Cup star, was beaten by Clairey Lin in the Round of 32 (before Lin herself fell to 14-year-old Ma). Anna Davis, the two-time Curtis Cupper, went out in the Round of 64 to hometown favorite Rachel Heck — who then charmed Tennessee all the way to the Round of 16 before Pinky Chaisilprungruang ended the ride. Co-medalist Hailey Kim, 15, never made it out of the opening round. This is the chaos the U.S. Women's Amateur promises every August, and The Honors Course — hosting its first — delivered it in full.
Our Pick to Lift the Robert Cox Trophy
If you make us commit: Asterisk Talley. She is the highest-ranked player left, the most battle-tested in this exact setting, and the one with the clearest unfinished business — a 2024 runner-up and 2025 co-medalist who has done everything at this championship except win it. The bottom half runs through her, and the top half has no seed higher than the medalist. But the value play is Yujie Liu, whose professional-level results at 16 make her the most likely name to blow the bracket open. And if you're watching for the moment that defines the week regardless of the result, it's the 10:40 tee time, where a 14-year-old who hasn't led a hole all tournament keeps finding ways to win.
Semifinals go off Saturday afternoon; the 36-hole final is Sunday. Follow every match in our live coverage hub, and catch the full breakdown on the AmateurGolf.com podcast.
