2026 U.S. Ladies’s Newbie: Marathon 9-player playoff decides closing 64

OOLTEWAH, Tenn. – After two rounds of stroke play on the 2026 U.S. Ladies’s Newbie, two gamers sit atop the leaderboard.

Anna Iwanaga, a 17-year-old from Japan, held onto her first-round result in earn co-medalist honors, at six underneath, alongside 15-year-old Hailey Kim of Simi Valley, Calif.

Only one stroke behind the co-medalists was 17-year-old Asterisk Talley, whose second-round 3-under 69 secured her the No. 3 seed coming into match play.

The gamers battled greater than only one one other. A climate delay of practically two and a half hours suspended second-round play on Wednesday and compelled rivals to return the next day to finish their rounds.After common play concluded, 9 gamers had been tied at 5 over, with simply two spots remaining within the 64-player match play area: Bridget Boczar, Paula Francisco, Sarah Lydic, Claire Swathwood, Eliana Saga, Kathryn VanArragon, Nobelle Park, Addison Klonowski and Hsin Chun Liao.

The playoff started on the tenth gap. The 407-yard, par-4’s demanding format rapidly narrowed the sphere, eliminating Park, Swathwood, Lydic and Francisco. The remaining 5 rivals battled for greater than two hours, extending the playoff by three extra holes.

On the third gap, the par-4 fifteenth, VanArragon and Saga had been eradicated after Boczar, Klonowski and Liao every made birdie to increase the playoff. The ultimate two spots had been selected the next gap — the par-3 sixteenth — the place the tee shot over water heightened the stress.

After lacking the inexperienced to the left, Boczar made bogey, leaving her destiny within the palms of her rivals. Klonowski confronted a birdie try from roughly 20 toes, rolling it shut to go away herself a brief par putt. Moments later, Liao confidently buried a 10-foot birdie putt to punch her ticket into the match-play bracket.

All eyes turned to Klonowski as she stepped over her brief par putt and rolled it into the center of the cup. Following the playoff, Klonowski credited her teammate, who was on the bag, for serving to her keep composed on the course.