With ANWA’s scars healing, Asterisk Talley looks to the future

HOUSTON – The thing about scars is, they last forever. Eventually they become cunning and pass out, but they never leave you.

Asterisk Talley’s first big, public scar is healing. Last month at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the 17-year-old led with seven holes to play before hitting two balls into the water on the 3rd 12th and limping home. It was a reminder that, for all Talley’s world-class talent, he’s still only 17, a high school student. Like all teenagers, Talley has a lot of life lessons ahead of him. Whatever your gifts, trials and tribulations find you. That’s the deal. But for most 17-year-olds, those hard lessons don’t happen in front of thousands of people. You can stumble and fail, and most people will be none the wiser.

But Asterisk Talley has the curse – and the gift – of extraordinary talent and stellar expectations.

Talley’s father, James, could see trouble coming, as all parents do. Talley entered the tournament as the favorite and played bogey-free golf in two rounds at the Champions Retreat. He entered the 10th hole at Augusta National without dropping a shot, but the pressure, not just to win but to do it emphatically, was building most of the crowd at Augusta trying to love him. When Talley missed a short par putt at 11 to record his first bogey, his father was able to tell him to let the frustration seep in.

“He got caught by everybody saying, ‘no bogeys,'” James Talley told GOLF at the Chevron Championship about his bogey-free streak at last year’s ANWA. “He was told that he will win when he left, everything was that he will win, he will win, he will win, he was leading, he wanted to win in style, when he did not win in style, he gave up, he has those small problems, he does not give up on the big picture, but he gave up a bad hole, don’t give up hope Amen.

“There was a lot of pressure going into those holes,” Asterisk Talley told GOLF at Chevron. “[Winner Maria Jose Marin] it was playing great, and I hadn’t made a bogey all week, and then I made a bogey on 11, and it wasn’t necessary. I just missed the short putt. I didn’t think I was too distracted coming off the tee, but I wasn’t very confident about the shot and the club with the wind constantly changing on the hole. It just wasn’t the tee shot I wanted at the time. “

James and his wife, Brandii, said they were “in the dark” after their daughter’s earnings disappeared. They failed to stop what was happening and floated until everything was over. They comforted him when he arrived at the clubhouse, and the tears Asterisk Talley had worked to keep from falling as he tried to meet.

Then, what Asterisk Talley did next said more about him than any gun. At a time when professional golfers often withdraw from tournaments after a short loss before speaking to the media, 17-year-old Asterisk Talley, teary-eyed, stood and spoke about what will be a tough season in golf that promises to be a long, successful career.

“People just want to see the side of the story of what happened,” Talley told GOLF. “People are trying to figure out what happened. People are trying to blame somebody else. Blame the caddy, blame the game, blame the atmosphere. It was obviously the players’ fault the whole time. I’m not going to blame somebody else for your mistakes. I needed to do that.

“That’s also mandatory when you get to the big leagues. People will want to talk to you about what you did, even if you didn’t get what you wanted.

That’s where he described the “mis-club,” with the issue of sand on the back of No. 12 and the decision to repeat his fourth shot at that house, which also found Rae’s Creek. But Talley also indicated that the tears were not just for a lost opportunity, but because he felt like he let everyone at Augusta National who had been trying to push him down the line go down.

“I’m upset emotionally, not only because I didn’t do it today, but also because everyone is supporting me,” said Talley. “It’s hard when they have to look at that and see you not doing well or not achieving what you wanted. I’m still playing well today even though that hole got me.”

Asterisk Talley’s take on a brutal and public loss to the world’s most famous course is not what most 17-year-olds would have done. They will still be determined to lose the opportunity to engrave their name in history. Asterisk Talley still thinks about that day; that is only human. But for someone whose name means “Little Star” in Greek and dreams big, he knows that’s all part of what he signed up for. If you want to win important events, you have to be willing to get hurt.

“Obviously, it wasn’t the result I wanted,” Talley told GOLF. “But that’s going to happen sometimes when you’re trying to win things don’t go your way, I’m glad I was able to play some good golf after that. [the 12th hole]. I enjoy the opportunity, obviously, to play ANWA every year. And I will try again.”

This week at the Chevron Championship, the LPGA’s first major of the season, is different.

All eyes are on Asterisk Talley this week. His parents walked the course at Memorial Park among the few crowds as their 17-year-old star took another important step toward his dreams. This week, Asterisk Talley should not go for the win. This week, he is well behind World No. 2 Nelly Korda, who will try to win her third medal on Sunday. This week, Asterisk Talley gets a chance to learn about the world he hopes to live in one day.

“Experience,” said James Talley. Playing with the people he will end up playing with.” That’s just playing well, he knows he can improve, just learning things they know that he probably doesn’t understand well at the age of 17.”

He made him watch Korda’s second interview, where he discussed “maturity” as a player and avoiding unnecessary risks. If you want to win big events, you have to know when to pick your spots, minimize mistakes and take advantage when the opportunity arises. Talley has not played with Korda this week. He made the cut but was shot 11 times by the start of the weekend. Still, Asterisk Talley has been taking notes from a distance about how the LPGA star has brought a major tournament to his knees.

“Making it look easy,” says star Talley with a laugh. “The way he behaves, the way he’s not happy when he’s playing well and just trying to play, not worrying about the whole field.”

This is Talley’s fourth major championship and second cut. For a rising star with big goals, these tournaments, where all eyes are not on him and he is close to the players who hope to one day call their contemporaries, is precious.

“This is preparation,” Talley told GOLF. “That’s where I want to be. It’s a big goal. I want to do this every week.”

As Astersk Talley’s star has risen, his parents preached the need for him to maintain the humility and grace that endeared him to so many, which he demonstrated by taking the microphone at ANWA. That day when a life lesson was delivered – his father wishes, like all parents, that he would have stopped.

“I wish I was in the bag,” said James Talley. “I was like, ‘Oh, it’s okay. Take a breath.’

Asterisk Talley did just that, hours later, near the Memorial Park clubhouse, when he reflected on that day. Not a deep breath, but a quick relaxation.

“Such things happen,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. You have to forget about it.”

And with that, Asterisk Talley began to practice putting green to continue his journey. As he passed, Aapatron said “sorry about ANWA.”

Scars never go away; they disappear over time.