After red-eye flight and massage, Asterisk Talley opens with 66 at ANWA
Talley came straight to the ANWA after finishing in the top 30 on the LPGA in Arizona on Sunday.
EVANS, Ga. — When it comes to turnarounds, no one in the field had a schedule quite like Asterisk Talley , who took a redeye from Phoenix to Atlanta on Sunday night. After a top-30 finish at the LPGA’s Ford Championship, her dad dropped $150 on a massage and 45 minutes in a massage chair at the airport.
“Whatever it takes,” he said. On Wednesday at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, a now well-rested Talley carded a bogey-free 66, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 18th to sit one stroke behind last year’s NCAA champion, Maria Jose Marin of Arkansas. Hot starts are key at this event.
All six winners of the ANWA have been in the top 10 after the first found. Seventeen-year-old Talley, who finished runner-up at the ANWA last year, had won her last three starts in junior golf before last week’s appearance at the Ford, where she carded a second-round 65. Talley took a midnight flight out of Phoenix, arriving in Augusta around 11 a.
m. Monday and then took the rest of the day off. “I feel good now,” said Talley, who had a nice steak last night at the annual Chairman’s Dinner at Augusta National.