Even with plenty of the best golfers in the world in the field, amateur Asterisk Talley has made her presence felt through 36 holes on the LPGA Tour.

Talley, the 10th-ranked amateur golfer in the world, fired a 7-under 65 Friday at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass and is tied for 11th on the leaderboard heading into the weekend in Arizona.

“I was looking forward to it today. Teeing off in the morning I knew the greens were going to be a little bit more receptive and a little more gettable,” Talley said.

Talley, 17, was 2-under through her first four holes before giving it back with a double bogey on the par-4 14th hole. She staged a tidy rally through the rest of her round, however, including an eagle on the par-5 2nd and closing with four birdies in a row on holes Nos. 6-9.

Talley shot a 3-under 69 Thursday and is in the mix at the Ford Championship, which boasts 22 of the top 25 players in the world.

“I had some nice birdies in the beginning and then I had that double, which was a little tough. I tried to just keep it out of my mind. After that it was just steady. Had some birdies and then had that eagle. It was a nice confidence booster going into the back nine there,” Talley said.

Talley has had as celebrated a junior career as anyone in recent history. She has committed to playing college golf at Stanford University and will head to next week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur playing some of the best golf of her young career.

She teed it up this week at in Arizona on the heels of winning her previous three starts dating back to late 2025. In 2026 Talley has already won The Fortinet Girls Invitational at Stanford (hosted by Rose Zhang) and the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley.

At last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Talley finished second alone – just one shot back of Carla Bernat Escuder, who shot a tournament-low 12-under 204. Talley finished at 11-under 205 after a final-round 68 at Augusta National Golf Club, including an eagle on the par-4 1st, a first in tournament history.

“Always looking forward to (the Augusta National Women’s Amateur) every year,” Talley said. “I was feeling good coming into these two tournaments (that she won). I knew my game was in the right place coming in, especially after coming back from Sage Valley. I think that was just really nice to know that I had the game for these upcoming weeks and I'm super excited to come into these.”

At this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Talley will have another awfully impressive youngster right alongside. Miles Russell, who is the men’s No.8-ranked amateur (and who is playing on the Korn Ferry Tour this week) will caddie for her. Russell won the boys Junior Invitational while Talley was tilting her own trophy on the girls’ side. The duo were also teammates on the U.S. National Junior Team.

“Me and Miles have been friends and I think my dad kind of brought it up. He was like, ‘You know what would be cool is like if Miles caddied for you at ANWA.’ He was like, ‘That would be great for him to learn the course before he plays in the Masters,’” Talley said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be pretty cool.’ Obviously, he knows a lot about the game. Kind of just organically happened.”

There’s a big week just ahead for Talley in Augusta, Georgia. But for now, she’s got 36 more holes at the Ford Championship to go where she’ll try to keep her winning ways going.

With Georgia on Her Mind, Asterisk Talley Looking Ahead to the Weekend at the Ford Championship

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