The No. 1 player in the Junior Golf Hub Rankings won by four at 14-under, becoming only the second back-to-back champion in the event’s 18 editions.
Every junior who has returned to an event as the player to beat knows the field is chasing you from the first tee. Asterisk Talley carried that target all week at the ANNIKA Invitational and still won by four, closing with a 5-under 67 to become just the second player to win the championship in consecutive years (Bethany Wu 2013, 2014).
Talley, of Chowchilla, California, posted rounds of 66-69-67 at The Golf Club of Georgia’s Lakeside Course in Alpharetta to finish at 14-under (202). The win at the 18th Hilton Grand Vacations ANNIKA Invitational presented by Rolex is her seventh AJGA victory and her fifth Invitational title of 2026.
She set the tone early. Talley opened with a 6-under 66, then added a bogey-free 69 to stretch her bogey-free run to 36 holes and carry a three-stroke lead into Sunday. Darkness suspended the second round on Saturday, so part of the field returned Sunday morning to finish before the final round began.
Once the final round started, Talley widened the gap quickly with back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. She added three more on the 11th, 15th and 16th to pull clear.
Grace Carter of Jupiter, Florida, finished runner-up at 10-under (206). The 2029 graduate opened with a 72, then made the biggest move of the second round with a 66 built on six back-nine birdies, climbing 14 places before closing with a 68 (72-66-68).
Courtney Grace of Birmingham, Alabama, a first-round co-leader, took third at 7-under (209) with rounds of 66-72-71. Nicole Tang of Bellevue, Washington, was fourth at 6-under (210) after three straight 70s. Honorine Ferry (69-73-70) and Emily Song (71-73-68) shared fifth at 4-under (212).
The title carries more than a trophy. Talley earned an exemption into the 2027 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in February, which will be her 11th LPGA event appearance. The No. 1 player in the Rolex AJGA Rankings has given Verbal Intent to Stanford for Fall 2027.
The 54-hole championship, conducted by the AJGA, brought together 72 of the top junior girls in the game from around the world.
The Hub’s view: the stat that won this week wasn’t the 202. It was 36 straight holes without a bogey to start the tournament. Talley didn’t need to chase anything on Sunday because she had given almost nothing back on Friday and Saturday.
For juniors building their own schedules, that is the lesson worth keeping. Fields like this one set the bar, and a winning score of 14-under over 54 holes shows what elite scoring looks like. Knowing where your own rounds stack up against events like the ANNIKA is part of planning your Journey with real numbers instead of guesses.
See how the JGH Rankings track results like these.