Asterisk Talley won the U.S. Women’s Amateur last week, and this week she was supposed to play the $2M Standard Portland Classic. But now she’s set to skip it, and that, too, because of school. For the 17-year-old, no doubt, her studies come first.
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“Asterisk Talley will not be in the field this week in Portland, according to the LPGA. She has withdrawn due to a conflict with school. Caroline Inglis, a former Oregon player who retired last year, has replaced her in the field,” Beth Ann Nichols wrote in an X post.
The exact reason for the conflict hasn’t been confirmed. But Talley is still in high school and is committed to Stanford, and that, of course, takes priority. The USGA has listed her expected college arrival as fall 2027.
However, despite her busy schedule, Talley reached the LPGA event through her own merit, and not through a sponsor exemption, for instance. The LPGA carved out a new amateur pathway for this year’s event, with exemptions going to the 2026 winners of the U.S. Women’s Amateur, the Women’s Amateur Championship, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and the NCAA Division I title. That win last weekend is exactly what put her in the field.
The withdrawal comes days after her USGA title. She defeated Japanese amateur Anna Iwanaga to claim her second USGA championship.
“This pretty much completes my amateur career,” said Talley. “This is one of the biggest events to ever win, so I think this is going to be the top of my list from now on.”
The win carried extra weight given her recent near misses at USGA events, especially when everyone dealt with thunderstorms as well. She has been runner-up at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior. She also finished second at the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
However, there will be a few other amateurs in the field this week, including the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion María José Marín, who beat Talley by six strokes at that event. The field also includes 2026 NCAA champion Farah O’Keefe, 2026 Women’s British Amateur champion Valentine Delon, and Colorado State junior Jacinda Lee.
Tally, who got emotional after losing to Marin in April, said last week as per Golf Digest, “Just the power of God. He was with me through the whole championship. I knew I had to come out strong and get it done. I didn’t want it to get close at the end.”
Her replacement, Caroline Inglis, who competed here nine times, adds a hometown storyline of her own.
As first alternate in the field, Inglis waited for her own chance. As per KPTV, she said, on the hope of playing here, “It’s so unique because this is my home course… but today was the most I’ve hit balls on the range since I retired but I can still go make some birdies, you never know.”
Inglis retired from the LPGA Tour in November 2025 after nine years on tour, a decision driven in part by recurring back problems. She then took a role with the Oregon Golf Association, and now returns to play in her hometown event.
However, even if Asterisk Talley had played the Standard Portland Classic this week, it wouldn’t have been her first LPGA start.
Asterisk Talley’s history at LPGA events
So far, she has made 10 LPGA Tour starts. Her first came in 2024; she then played four in 2025 and five in 2026. Of those 10, she missed the cut four times, with her best finish coming at the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship.
Her first LPGA appearance came at the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open. She was 15, the youngest player in the field, and opened with rounds of 70 and 71 to make the cut. An 8-over 78 on Saturday knocked her back, and she closed with a 73 for a 292 total, tied for 44th.
In 2025, she missed the cut in three of her four starts. Her only weekend appearance came at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, where she carded rounds of 69-68-72 to finish 4-under, tied for 38th.
She came back stronger in 2026. Of her five starts that year, she missed the cut only once, at the Amundi Evian Championship, where rounds of 70-73 for a 1-over 143 fell just short. In her other four starts, she finished within the top 25 at the JM Eagle LA Championship (T13) and the U.S. Women’s Open (T22), and also made the cut at the Ford Championship and the Chevron Championship.
Talley’s withdrawal from Portland says more about her priorities than her game. She’s already proven she can compete at the top level. But school still comes first, and everything else gets built around it. The real question now isn’t whether she belongs on tour. It’s how many more starts she takes before Stanford in 2027, and whether Portland was a one-off or a sign she’s getting more selective.