Aument Talley

Matt Aument, a full-time caddie at Lancaster Country Club and a 53-year-old Donegal grad, poses with Asterisk Talley, whose bag he carried, following the final round of the U.S. Women's Open at LCC.

 BRIAN SMITH | LNP STAFF

As Asterisk Talley teed off for the final time Sunday at the U.S. Women’s Open, many in the gallery raised their phones to take photos.

As she got set to hit out of the fairway minutes later, a young girl asked her father about trying to get Talley’s autograph.

When the 15-year-old, the youngest in the field this week at Lancaster Country Club, walked toward the 18th green, someone shouted, “Way to go, Asterisk!”

Hours later, when it was announced that she had tied with Megan Schofill and Catherine Park for low amateur honors, Talley was greeted with the loudest applause of the three.

To say Talley became a fan favorite during her four days competing in her first major would be an understatement.

“They were crazy, but sometimes that’s fun to have,” Talley said. “I don’t really think it got to me like in my head, but super fun to have supporters out there, and I think that’s a big part of just playing golf.”

Talley played pretty well, all things considered. The Chowchilla, California, native finished tied for 44th at 12-over 292 and reached her two goals: making the cut and being low amateur.

Talley opened with rounds of 70 and 71 to get people’s attention, before shooting an 8-over 78 Saturday. She rebounded nicely with a 73 Sunday.

“I imagined it being like super fun, but it was even better than I thought,” Talley said of her U.S. Women’s Open experience. “Even with a bad round in there, I still had the time of my life yesterday and today, and it was still such a fun week.”

More than along for the ride was Talley’s caddie, Matt Aument. The 53-year-old Donegal grad called the opportunity to carry a player’s bag for four rounds at the club where he works as a caddie “fantastic.”

“It was exhausting, but it was fun,” he said. “It was a blast.”

He said he even heard his name called from the gallery during the weekend.

“I tried to ignore most of it,” he said.

For Talley, it’s back to the real world. She flies to California on Tuesday and still has two days of school remaining after that.

“I’m dreading it already,” she said.

Surely, she will get some grief from her friends about being asked for her autograph.

“They’re like, ‘Why do people want your autograph, you’re not even that famous?’” she said.

Talley said occasionally she has been asked to sign something by people back home, but nothing like what she experienced at LCC.

“This is the first time I’ve had a bunch of kids ask for it, which is really cool,” she said. “I feel like it’s a full-circle moment for me because I was once there.”

Perhaps only weeks ago.

Talley obviously hopes this isn’t the last time she’s the focus of so much attention. She went from not believing she was playing in the U.S. Women’s Open to showing she’s not out of place among the world’s best.

“It’s going to give me a lot of confidence going forward knowing that I made the cut really easily and that without the bad round yesterday I could have really been in contention,” Talley said.

Newsletter

What to Read Next

Tags