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AUGUSTA, Ga. – The much-anticipated final round of the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur is currently taking place at the prestigious Augusta National Golf Club. With 13 competitors positioned within a five-shot range of the leader, excitement is building for Saturday’s play.
Asterisk Talley, who finished as the runner-up in 2025, leads the pack at 11-under par. Her performance on Thursday at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Georgia, was remarkable as she became the first player in the tournament’s history to complete the initial two rounds without a bogey. She hopes to maintain this impressive streak throughout Saturday’s round.
“Keeping a bogey-free status is definitely a target as I head into Saturday,” expressed the 17-year-old Talley after her practice session at Augusta National on Friday. “The course at Augusta is challenging, but achieving that goal would be incredible. It might just provide the extra motivation I need to elevate my game tomorrow, especially on such a demanding course.”
Talley added, “I plan to remain resilient throughout the day. If I win, that’s great; if not, that’s okay too.”
With a history of top-ten finishes in her previous appearances at the Championship, Talley is well aware that she faces stiff competition, with at least a dozen contenders poised to vie for the top spot on Saturday.
“I do allow myself to think about (winning) a little bit, but I also try to kind of keep it on the low,” she said. “I try not to over think about it obviously. But just thinking of how cool it would be to hoist that trophy tomorrow would be pretty nice, but I also try and put it in perspective that I still need to go out there and shoot a good round tomorrow to even get that chance of touching it.”
Just one behind Talley are Meja Ortengren of Sweden and Maria Jose Marin of Colombia, both at -10.
“I’m going to be super nervous on the first tee (Saturday),” said Ortengren, a sophomore at Stanford University. “I really do feel the pressure of this event. I don’t think that the pressure is ever going to really disappear from this event.
“It’s such a prestigious amateur event that we all look forward to each and every year, so I don’t think that it’s going to change even though you are here for the eighth or ninth time.”
However, making her fifth Championship start, Ortengren believes she has a plan to conquer those nerves.
“I think I’ve done my preparations well, and I think that is something that I’m going to rely on (Saturday), she said. “I know that I have my routine, which I’m very comfortable with, and I know how to handle myself those 30 seconds before I hit a shot.”
Marin, a sophomore at the University of Arkansas making her fourth Championship start, also plans to draw on previous experience.
“I think one of the biggest challenges the first time that you play Augusta, it’s everything that’s on your mind that you see on TV and all the expectation that you have from the course and just — let’s say, hole 16, when you see Tiger Woods chipping in from the back of the green, just like, oh, I want to play that shot, and just not playing really what you are going to play,” Marin said after Friday’s practice round at Augusta National.
“I think that’s one of the biggest changes that I made on to this year’s. Now my preparation changed a lot, and I’m giving myself more shots that I’m actually going to play and going to change the mindset a little of respecting the course, but being a little bit less scared of it.”
For Saturday starting times, click here. For live scoring, click here.
NBC Sports will provide live coverage of the final round beginning at 12 p.m. Eastern.
This story will be updated throughout the day.