Five amateurs finished inside the top 34 at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club, highlighted by top 10 performances from Oregon’s Kiara Romero and Stanford’s Maria Jose Marin. 

Romero, the top ranked amateur in the world, earned low amateur honors with a tie for sixth at 3 under par. Marin, the reigning Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, finished one shot behind in a tie for eighth at 2 under. Both players secured exemptions into the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open at Inverness Club.

The amateur contingent also included Aphrodite Deng, Asterisk Talley, and Farah O’Keefe. Deng and Talley finished inside the top 25, earning additional LEAP points through the USGA pathway program.

Deng entered the championship after becoming the first Canadian to win the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship. Talley, who is set to join Stanford Cardinal women’s golf this fall, followed a made cut at the Chevron Championship with a tie for 22nd at Riviera.

O’Keefe finished 34th after a standout collegiate season that included winning the Annika Award and the 2026 NCAA Division I individual championship for Texas Longhorns women’s golf.

The performances marked the first time since 2005 that two amateurs finished inside the top 10 of the U.S. Women’s Open leaderboard. Nelly Korda captured the championship, while a group of elite amateur players further strengthened their cases as some of the top rising talents in women’s golf.
Source: Golf Channel Report