The 124th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship kicks off next week.
Here's a breakdown of the 155 golfers competing at Southern Hills Country Club. One spot is currently being held for the winner of the 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur, which concludes on Aug. 2.
Oldest Competitors: Brenda Corrie Kuehn, 59, of Asheville, N.C.; Shelly Stouffer, 54, of Canada; Ina Kim-Schaad, 40, of Jupiter, Fla.
Youngest Competitor: Jieen Lin, 13, of Chinese Taipei
Average Age of Field: 20.6
Field breakdown by age:
Age 13-15: 9
Age 16-19: 57
Age 20-25: 80
Age 26-30: 2
Age 31-40: 5
Age 41-60: 2
U.S. States Represented – There are 30 states represented in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur:
Alabama (2), Arizona (6), Arkansas (2), California (27), Colorado (2), Florida (10), Georgia (5), Illinois (6), Indiana (2), Kansas (1), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (4), Michigan (4), Missouri (3), Nebraska (1), Nevada (1), New Jersey (9), New York (2), North Carolina (7), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (2), Pennsylvania (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (3), Texas (5), Utah (2), Virginia (3), Washington (3), Wisconsin (1)
International – There are 17 countries represented in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur:
Australia (1), Canada (5), Chinese Taipei (4), Colombia (1), France (1), Hong Kong China (1), India (1), Japan (3), Mexico (3), Northern Ireland (1), People’s Republic of China (3), Philippines (1), Republic of Korea (1), Singapore (1), South Africa (2), Spain (6), United States (119)
USGA Champions (16): Krissy Carman (2022 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Kelsey Chugg (2017 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Gianna Clemente (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Kimberly Dinh (2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Lauren Greenlief (2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Thienna Huynh (2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Sara Im (2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Ina Kim-Schaad (2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur), Sarah Lim (2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Rianne Malixi (2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Kiara Romero (2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Alexa Saldana (2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Megan Schofill (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur), Shelly Stouffer (2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Yana Wilson (2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior)
USGA Runners-up (6): Gianna Clemente (2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Ina Kim-Schaad (2000 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Brenda Corrie Kuehn (1995 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, 2023 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), Rianne Malixi (2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior), Bailey Shoemaker (2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball), Latanna Stone (2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur), Asterisk Talley (2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior)
Curtis Cup Team Members (8): Zoe Campos (USA, 2024), Megha Ganne (USA, 2022), Jasmine Koo (USA, 2024), Brenda Corrie Kuehn (USA, 1996, 1998), Rachel Kuehn (USA, 2021, 2022), Emilia Migliaccio (USA, 2021, 2022), Catherine Park (USA, 2024), Latanna Stone (USA, 2022)
World Amateur Team Championship Competitors (15): Carla Bernat Escuder (Spain, 2023), Adela Cernousek (France, 2023), Anna Davis (USA, 2023), Aine Donegan (Ireland, 2023), Huai-Chien Hsu (Chinese Taipei, 2022, 2023), Lauren Kim (Canada, 2022, 2023), Brenda Corrie Kuehn (Dominican Republic, 1986, 2018; USA, 1996, 1998), Rachel Kuehn (Dominican Republic, 2018; USA 2022, 2023), Hsin Chun Liao (Chinese Taipei, 2022, 2023), Corey Lopez (Mexico, 2018, 2023), Rianne Malixi (Philippines, 2023), Caitlyn Macnab (South Africa, 2018, 2022, 2023), Inez Ng (Singapore, 2023), Avani Prashanth (India, 2022, 2023), Megan Schofill (USA, 2023)
U.S. National Junior Team Members (5): Gianna Clemente, Nikki Oh, Scarlett Schremmer, Asterisk Talley, Angela Zhang
Most U.S. Women’s Amateur Appearances (2024 included): Brenda Corrie Kuehn (15), Lauren Greenlief (9), Latanna Stone (8), Megha Ganne (7), Megan Schofill (7), Jackie Rogowicz (6)
Top players in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking® as of July 31:
No. 4 – Zoe Campos
No. 5 – Jasmine Koo
No. 6 – Catherine Park
No. 8 – Rachel Kuehn
No. 9 – Adela Cernousek
No. 10 – Rianne Malixi
No. 16 – Anna Davis
No. 17 – Amanda Sambach
No. 18 – Kiara Romero
No. 19 – Megan Schofill
No. 21 – Gianna Clemente
No. 22 – Farah O’Keefe
No. 25 – Carla Bernat Escuder
Players from Oklahoma (2): Natalie Blonien (Altus), Lucy Darr (Stillwater)
Colleges with most active players: Arkansas (6), Texas (6), Stanford (4), Michigan State (3), USC (3)
Played in 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally (12): Adela Cernousek (T67), Kimberly Dinh (MC), Megha Ganne (MC), Maisie Filler (MC), Huai-Chien Hsu (MC), Catherine Park (T44), Katie Li (MC), Kiara Romero (MC), Megan Schofill (T44), Caroline Smith (MC), Latanna Stone (MC), Asterisk Talley (T44)
Playing in fourth USGA championship of 2024 (1): Asterisk Talley
Sets of sisters in the field (2): Maddie, Molly and Morgan Smith, Kristina and Kelly Xu
Mother-daughter duos in the field (1): Brenda Corrie Kuehn and Rachel Kuehn
PLAYER NOTES
Hailey Borja, 22, of Lake Forest, Calif., is a graduate of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Borja also was a first four-time All-Big Ten golfer. As part of her pursuit of a sport management degree and minor in business, she participated in the USGA’s Pathways Internship Program during the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club. This 10-day immersive experience exposed college and graduate students to different careers in golf by providing training, education and networking opportunities. This will mark her fifth appearance in the championship with her best finish coming in 2023, when she advanced to the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Megan Schofill. She also works as a starter part-time at Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
Bella Bugg, 18, of Franklin, Tenn., earned a spot in her first USGA championship after posting a trio of 71s to win the 92nd Tennessee Women’s Amateur at Belle Meade Country Club in June. In 2022, she won the 2022 Tennessee Division II-A individual state championship as a senior at Battle Ground Academy (BGA) in Franklin and captured the 2022 Tennessee Women’s Four-Ball Championship with her partner Isabella Johnson. Bugg, a rising sophomore at Florida State University, planned on playing collegiate soccer up until her sophomore year of high school when she began playing golf more regularly and entering junior tournaments. She helped lead BGA to consecutive state championships as a soccer midfielder during her freshman and sophomore seasons.
Megha Ganne, 20, of Holmdel, N.J., made headlines in June of 2021 when she earned a spot in the final pairing of the U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club and earned low-amateur honors with her T14 finish. Ganne also qualified for the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston (S.C.). and most recently the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club. She was a member of the 2022 USA Curtis Cup Team and 2024 will mark her fifth U.S. Women’s Amateur appearance with her best finish in the championship coming in 2019, when she was a semifinalist. Her freshman season at Stanford University included a runner-up finish at the Carmel Cup, four top-10 finishes and All-Pac-12 honors. During her sophomore season, she picked up her first collegiate victory at the Carmel Cup and helped lead Stanford to an NCAA Team Championship title. Ganne also is a four-time national age-group finalist in Drive, Chip & Putt, a skills competition held at Augusta National Golf Club and supported by the USGA, PGA of America and Augusta National.
Rachel Kuehn, 23, of Asheville, N.C., is competing in her fifth U.S. Women’s Amateur. She earned medalist honors in 2021 and made it to the Round of 16 in 2022, her best finish. She is a two-time member of the USA Curtis Cup Team, securing the clinching point in both the 2021 and 2022 Matches at Conwy Golf Club in Wales and Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., respectively. Kuehn became the first Wake Forest women's golfer in program history and just the sixth Atlantic Coast Conference women's golfer to be named the ACC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. She collected two individual titles during both the 2023-24 and 2022-23 school year. She is currently No. 7 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®. Her mother, Brenda, is also an accomplished amateur golfer and made it to the final match in last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, earning her a place in this year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur field. It will be the first time the two will compete in the same USGA championship. Brenda was eight months pregnant with Rachel when she competed in the 2001 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles.
Rianne Malixi, 17, of the Philippines, is competing in her second USGA championship this summer, fresh off a victory in the 2024 U.S. Girls’ Junior at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif. The Manila native took down Asterisk Talley – the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion and one of three 2024 U.S. Women’s Open low amateurs - 8 & 7, a historic margin of victory for the championship. She made 14 birdies against no bogeys over the 29 holes. A year ago, Malixi finished runner-up in the Girls’ Junior, falling 1 down to Kiara Romero, a standout rising sophomore at the University of Oregon. She went on to win the 2024 Women’s Australian Master of the Amateurs and finish runner-up to Talley at the 2024 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley ahead of her first USGA victory this summer. Though already exempt into the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur via her No. 13 WAGR Ranking, Malixi earned a second exemption into the Women’s Amateur through her Girls’ Junior victory, along with exemptions into the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Erin Hills, the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero and an invitation to the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She has committed to attend Duke University in the fall of 2025.
Emilia Migliaccio, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., is an on-course reporter for NBC Sports, Golf Channel and PGA Tour Live. She was the on-course reporter at last week’s U.S. Junior Amateur at Oakland Hills Country Club and will trade off reporting and playing duties at Southern Hills. The Wake Forest graduate and four-time All-American helped the Deamon Deacons win the 2023 NCAA Team Championship, the first for the women’s program. Migliaccio qualified for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links where she doubled as a broadcaster for NBC’s featured group coverage. She has represented the USA in the last two Curtis Cup Matches, won the 2022 North & South Women’s Amateur and was runner-up in the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, losing in a playoff. This will be her fourth U.S. Women’s Amateur. Her mom, Ulrika, played college golf at Arizona with future Hall of Famer and three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam.
Mary Kelly Mulcahy, 22, of Lima, Ohio, is the only non-Division I player to ever go 4-0 in the Arnold Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-style competition between college players from the U.S. and an International team of the same. Mulcahy, a rising senior at the University of Findlay, was one of two Division II players (one male and one female) on the team that won at Lahinch in the Republic of Ireland. During her junior season, Mulcahy led Division II with a 71.71 scoring average and posted seven individual wins. In 13 events, she finished outside of the top two just twice. The reigning NCAA D-II National Player of the Year qualified for her first LPGA Tour event in July at the 2024 Dana Open and reached the quarterfinals of the 101st Women’s Ohio State Amateur. Mulcahy has a twin sister, Erin, who also plays on Findlay’s women’s golf team. Their father, Steve, is a longtime PGA of America professional who also assists the women’s team at Findlay.
Farah O’Keefe, 19, of Austin, Texas, won the 124th Women’s Western Amateur on July 20. The rising sophomore at the University of Texas was named the Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year after a standout rookie season that included five top 10 finishes and a win in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. She was the 2022 UIL Class 5A team and individual state champion with Anderson High School. O’Keefe reached the quarterfinals of the 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior and qualified for the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. Her father, Michael, played professional tennis and rugby. She is one of six Longhorns in the U.S. Women’s Amateur field.
Nikki Oh, 16, of Torrance, Calif., is a member of the U.S. National Junior Team and the daughter of Ted Oh, who in 1993 qualified for the U.S. Open at Baltusrol as a 16-year-old high school golfer. That field at Valencia (Calif.) Country Club also included Tiger Woods. Nikki is competing in her second U.S. Women’s Amateur. She made the cut and advanced to match play at the 2022 U.S. Girls’ Junior and owns four top-10 finishes in her last five American Junior Golf Association starts, including a third-place finish in the 2024 Heather Farr Thunderbird Classic and a runner-up in the 2023 Polo Golf Junior Classic, a match-play event. She also was third in the 2023 Sergio and Angela Garcia Foundation Junior Championship. Oh won this year’s Arizona Women’s Amateur to get exempt into the field.
Kiara Romero, 18, of San Jose, Calif., comes off an impressive freshman season at the University of Oregon where she earned All Pac-12 First Team honors and picked up two individual wins. She defeated Rianne Malixi in the 36-hole final to win the 74th U.S. Girls' Junior Championship at the United States Air Force Academy’s Eisenhower Golf Club in Colorado in July of 2023. This will be her second U.S. Women’s Amateur. Earlier this summer, she competed in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open, where she missed the cut.
Calynne Rosholt, 21, of Scottsdale, Ariz., birdied the 18th hole at Hackberry Creek Country Club to grab the last of four spots in the Irving, Texas, qualifier on July 8. Rosholt, a rising senior at Grand Canyon University, spent her first three seasons at Arizona State University. She posted nine top 20 finishes with the Sun Devils, including a 16th-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Championships at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. Prior to ASU, she won back-to-back Women’s Southern Amateur titles in 2018 and 2019, winning the first at 15 years old. Rosholt competed in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball with her sister Chandler and competed with Melena Barrientos in 2019. She tied for sixth in the 2024 Arizona Women’s Amateur.
Megan Schofill, 23, of Monticello, Fla., will attempt to become the first back-to-back U.S. Women’s Amateur champion since Danielle Kang in 2010 and 2011. Schofill enjoyed the biggest win of her career when she defeated Latanna Stone in the 36-hole final of the 2023 U.S. Women's Amateur at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. The 2024 Auburn graduate made the cut in the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club and tied with Asterisk Talley and Catherine Park for low-amateur honors (T-44). She was a four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection at Auburn and holds the lowest scoring average in program history at 72.01 (minimum 60 rounds). Schofill represented the USA in the 2023 Women's World Amateur Team Championship in the United Arab Emirates, and was one of 12 players invited to a practice session for the 2024 Curtis Cup Match. Prior to Auburn, Schofill was a first-team American Junior Golf Association All-American and was a semifinalist in the 2019 Women's Southern Amateur.
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