{"id":583636,"date":"2026-04-05T10:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583636\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T10:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T10:49:09","slug":"this-isnt-going-to-define-you-bryson-dechambeau-encourages-crestfallen-asterisk-talley-at-augusta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/583636\/","title":{"rendered":"‘This isn’t going to define you’: Bryson DeChambeau encourages crestfallen Asterisk Talley at Augusta"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2013 Bryson DeChambeau looked right into Asterisk Talley\u2019s tear-streaked face.<\/p>\n

In that quiet moment, away from the cameras, DeChambeau \u2013 with his purposeful speech, broad shoulders and two-by-four forearms \u2013 better resembled a high school football coach than a two-time major winner. For about two minutes, he pointed at Talley\u2019s heart, gestured back down the hill at Augusta National and spun around to reveal a smiley young girl, eagerly awaiting an autograph.<\/p>\n

Wearing his Masters players badge, he was delivering a pep talk \u2013 direct, passionate, encouraging \u2013 from one superstar to, in time, another.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t going to define you,\u201d DeChambeau told the crestfallen teenager, and in that moment, it was easy to believe him.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s little doubt that Talley is the next great American golfer. She\u2019s just 17. She\u2019s tall and powerful with a soft touch. She craves competition and boasts a wealth of big-game experience and is stockpiling junior and amateur titles at a head-turning rate before she heads to powerhouse Stanford in the fall of 2027. Her name alone just oozes star-power potential: Asterisk.<\/p>\n

Saturday afternoon, Talley was poised to take the next step, to become known by more than just the amateur golf cognoscenti. The Augusta National Women\u2019s Amateur is the premier event in women\u2019s amateur golf, and the phenom led by a stroke heading into the third and final round.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mental side of it is going to be crucial,\u201d she had told reporters on Friday night. \u201cKnowing this course tears players apart on the mental side, and it can tear anyone up in an instant.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, on this supercharged stage, it was Talley who was tearing it up early on Saturday. A birdie on 1. Another on 3. Yet another on 4. Midway through the front nine, she was three ahead. In total control, and in the biggest spot of her young life.<\/p>\n

It was about that time that DeChambeau flew into town. Fresh off the jet, he hurriedly changed into his Crushers team uniform and headed to the course to root on the competitors and to pull, specifically, for Talley.<\/p>\n

As Central Valley kids growing up in California, DeChambeau recalled meeting Talley about a decade earlier, slashing drivers under a tent at swing coach Mike Schy\u2019s performance center. They\u2019d kept in touch over the years, with DeChambeau charting Talley\u2019s progress as she mopped up junior titles to become, at this moment, the ninth-ranked amateur in the world, with aspirations to ascend much higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cTenacity,\u201d DeChambeau said, when asked what stood out about her. \u201cSame passion I had. It\u2019s what made me feel there were a lot of similarities.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Highlights: 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, final round<\/p>\n

Highlights from a dramatic final round of the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club.<\/p>\n

But first, Talley needed to knock off this prestigious title, and the tension was starting to build. She failed to expand her lead around the turn, settling for par on the par-5 eighth and missing a good look inside 10 feet on 10. Then she dropped into a share of the lead after a poor short-iron approach into 11. With the wind swirling on the 155-yard 12th, Talley was debating between a soft 8-iron and hard 9 for her club selection. Deciding to take the water out of play, she opted for a soft 8, counting on a puff of breeze into her face. Perhaps the wind died, or her adrenaline spiked, or her draw simply flew too far \u2013 but whatever the case, her tee shot sailed the narrow green, caromed off the bank near the back bunker and plopped into the sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got lucky for not going in the bushes there,\u201d Talley initially thought, but her outlook soon changed when she dug in her stance to attempt her bunker shot. \u201cThe sand didn\u2019t really have a lot in there. It was just kind of hard under the surface sand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talley tried to play a typical explosion shot from the bunker, but the ball kicked forward on the green with no zip, ran off the front edge and into the water.<\/p>\n

An official approached to inform Talley of her options: She could head to the other side of Rae\u2019s Creek for her drop, or attempt the bunker shot again. Talley chose the latter, hoping, after the area was raked, the ball would come out with more spin. But when she dropped the ball from knee-high, the ball settled into its indentation mark.<\/p>\n

The same result ensued, the ball meekly tumbling into the creek.<\/p>\n

Now facing a sixth shot and still not on the green, her head spinning, Talley trudged back across the Hogan Bridge and another 50 yards for her drop. She pitched onto the green and did well to hole a lengthy putt for a quadruple-bogey 7, dropping her from a share of the lead to five shots back. Just as she\u2019d warned: Torn up, in an instant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just didn\u2019t think that was going to be my position from the tee box,\u201d Talley said afterward. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it would have been in that situation at all. It shows how hard that hole is and how much it has messed up other people as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

(One player who was spared: the other co-leader. Just moments earlier, Maria Jose Marin\u2019s tee shot \u2013 much like Fred Couples in 1992 \u2013 somehow stayed up on the steep bank short of the green. Marin safely chipped on and saved an up-and-down par, and she went unchallenged the rest of the way, sailing to a four-shot win.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Augusta<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The par-3 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Club proved to be the turning point in the seventh edition of the Augusta National Women\u2019s Amateur.<\/p>\n

The remainder of Talley\u2019s round, meanwhile, was a blur.<\/p>\n

A bounce-back birdie on 13 was followed by a sloppy bogey on 15. She rinsed her tee shot on 16 for a double but backed it up with birdie on 17. It added up to a round of 75, a tie for fourth, and a painful learning experience.<\/p>\n

DeChambeau was waiting behind the green to console the teen phenom, but Talley was still in tears by the time she approached the scoring building. She was in tears when her family approached her after signing her card. And she was in tears on the interview podium, when she reflected on the support she has received.<\/p>\n

\u201cW\u201d for Asterisk Talley today. That was so tough on No. 12. I can’t imagine what it felt like in the moment.<\/p>\n

But she kept her chin up and then stood in front of us and answered every question with honesty and grace. At age 17? Huge, huge props. pic.twitter.com\/p0JqG16gQM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Gabby Herzig (@GabbyHerzig) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard when they have to watch that and see you not do well or not accomplish what you wanted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Given her age, the pain and the stage, Talley stood tall afterward. She didn\u2019t dodge any questions. She tried to offer perspective. She didn\u2019t assign any blame or lament her rotten luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m honestly so blessed to be here \u2013 it\u2019s a gift from God to walk this course.\u201d<\/p>\n

And: \u201cI learned a few things about myself, just knowing it\u2019s OK. Things like that happen to the best of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t define me as a golfer. I know what kind of player I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what DeChambeau had told her coming off 18, and it\u2019s what he wanted to reinforce as he waited out her scrum with reporters near the clubhouse.<\/p>\n

Just last year, after all, DeChambeau felt the sting of an opportunity lost at Augusta National. Paired with Rory McIlroy in the final group, he had seized the lead early in the final round before fading fast with (like Talley) a closing 75. It may have been his most high-profile failure, but like any elite player, he could rattle off dozens of other chances he\u2019d squandered over the years. He recalled one particularly painful defeat, back in college at SMU, when he sobbed in the back of the team bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you lay one brick down as good as I can to build that next wall for that nice foundation and help yourself grow,\u201d DeChambeau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the losses you learn the most \u2013 that\u2019s pretty much what I told her. She\u2019s going to be fine. She\u2019s going to be one of the best players in the world one day. And she knows it. I told her the most important thing is how you handle yourself and how you showcase yourself to inspire others.\u201d<\/p>\n

As DeChambeau sermonized under the afternoon sun, Talley dutifully nodded, adjusted the brim of her cap and wiped away tears. Then she went in for not one but two hugs, the message clearly received, and the healing process started.<\/p>\n