There was a point during the semi -final of Saturday at the 2025 US Women’s Amateur At Bandon Dunes in Bandon, Ore., When the final appeared in stone.
Megha Ganne, the no. 11 Seed, ran away from the 11th Green and was four on the Australian Ella Scaybrook. A short time later, Lyla Louderbaugh went down three with three to play against Brooke Biermann, the 22-year-old graduate Michigan State.
It seemed that the Biermann vs. Scays broke would be for the Robert Cox Trophy.
Then a historic hour broke out along the coast of Oregon.
We start with Louderbaugh. The Kansas Rising Junior won the 16th hole when Biermann made a sloppy bogey. Then Louderbaugh flocked in Birdies at 17 and 18 to send the competition to extra holes.
“I mean, what a putt to let it roll. Because I come from Missouri, I know her, and so it was a nice match. I mean that put on 18 was great. She had to make it and she did,” Biermann said about the role of Louderbaugh at 18 to extend the game.
Even with her lead, Biermann did not despair. She held her head up in the stormy conditions and marched to the 10th Tee with a smile on her face.
“If I’m not happy, I don’t know why I would do this,” said Biermann. “I mean, everything I think, such as running out of 18 is two small cute deer babies and I think their mother – I was more focused on that, probably my fault. But for me I was when some special place is. What happens here.
“So as if it’s all perspective.”
The tee balls of both players found the fairway on the tenth and Biermann hit her approach to 15 feet. Louderbaugh’s sailed over the Green for a long time, and her third had little chance to stay on the well surface with the green sloping back-to-front front and the wind ride. Biermann second for par to survive Louderbaugh’s attack and to hit her ticket to the final.
That leads us back to Ganne vs. Scays brook.
Scaybrook had a fourth advantage with Seven To Play, but then Ganne started fighting back.
“I am not saying exactly what I thought, but you can imagine,” said Ganne. “I think I was a bit confused at the time, because I felt that I won some momentum after I went to 10 to 3. I reminded myself that I literally won as many matches down, three down, four down. Matches starting nine – regardless of the score – in the back nine.
“I reminded myself and how often I did it. Today is no different.”
Scaysbrook made a mess of the par-3 12th, giving Ganne an easy victory. The Australian then missed a four-foot to bind the 13th, and the lead was back to two.
Ganne, the 21-year-old emerging senior in Stanford, Birdied de Par-3 15th to cut the lead from Scaysbrook to one. When the Australian hit her t-shirt in 17 in the penalty area, the door was open for Ganne to claw back all the way, which she did with a five-footer for par.
Both players made Bogey on the Par-5 18th to send the game to extra holes and the 2025 American women’s amateur to make the third edition in the 125-year history to let both semi-final games go than 18.
On their 19th hole, Ganne put her approach within 10 feet for Birdie while Scaybrook flew her second shot over the green. After he did not get her ball on the well surface with her next two shots, Scaybrook admitted to give Ganne the victory.
Ganne’s monumental comeback was born from a methodical approach. There was no avalanche that Scaybrook threw away, only the methodical crumbling that Ganne has now removed 36 holes from the Robert Cox trophy.
“I think something I tried to work on is not to really buy the whole momentum,” said Ganne. “Momentum is something that you create in your head. Of course, if you can drive on it, it’s okay. But if you trust it, you won’t play well in the times that you don’t have the feeling that you have momentum. I didn’t feel like I have done all day, if I don’t have to do you.
On Sunday in Windy Bandon Dunes, Ganne and Biermann, who were once taken away in the Drive, Chip and Putt at Augusta National, go at the biggest prize for the Amateur Golf of Ladies.
After Saturday’s fireworks, the two amateurs will have to dig deep to deliver the encore that this 125-year-old championship fits and championship that brings out the best in Ganne, which made the semi-final in 2019 as a 15-year-old before he lost Albane Valenzuela. After he has authorized a huge comeback on Saturday, Ganne has planned another rewriting for her US Women’s AM story.
“If you were to tell yourself at the age of 15, you would be this, you would be proud of yourself,” Ganne said, when he was asked if she went back to 2019 when she was four to Scays broke. “I had something like that, you are exactly the type of person who could make this happen now. Let’s just do it.”
Josh Schrock
Golf.com -edor
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before he came to Golf, Josh was the Chicago Bears Insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO-Aluin, Josh spends his free time walking with his wife and dog, to think about how the ducks will break his heart again and try to become a semi-profit in Chipping. Josh, a real romantic for golf, will never stop breaking 90 and never losing the confidence that the great drought of Rory McIlroy will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
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