BANDON, Ore. – Katie Rudolph’s introduction to Megha Ganne came at a driving range in Union, New Jersey. It took just a few swings from the 7-year-old Ganne that day at Galloping Hill to captivate Rudolph, who then raced to Ganne’s parents to ask them if she could take the reins as Ganne’s coach.
“She was basically a miniature version of who she is right now,” Rudolph said.
A big personality with an even bigger game.
And it wasn’t long before Rudolph was telling Ganne, “Let’s go be the best in the world.”
Ganne took a massive leap toward that goal on Sunday at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, where the now 21-year-old Ganne, a rising senior at Stanford, took down Michigan State grad Brooke Biermann, 4 and 3, in the scheduled 36-hole final of the 125th U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“I’m not going to lie, I was thinking about this trophy like the entire day,” said Ganne, who never trailed against Biermann.
Six times the intricate Robert Cox Trophy had eluded Ganne, a veteran of now 15 USGA championship starts, but no more.
She gripped that thing tight and with both hands hoisted it way into the crisp, oceanside air.
“It’s so much harder than it seems to win one of these,” Ganne said, “and it takes not only like a lot of patience, tries at it, but so many things working in your favor – good health, good luck, good fortune, and good timing. All those things coming together just feels like it’s fate.”
Ganne entered this week ranked 11th in the world amateur rankings and with a sparkling resumé, even from a young age.
She was a four-time Drive, Chip and Putt national finalist.
She qualified for her first U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2017, at just 13 years old, and a few weeks later did the same for her first U.S. Women’s Amateur.
Two years after that, she was the youngest match-play qualifier by four years at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur before losing in the semifinals in 19 holes to Albane Valenzuela.
Then came Olympic.
In her second U.S. Women’s Open appearance, a 17-year-old Ganne arrived on the national stage in San Francisco by leading after the first round and later booking her place in Sunday’s final pairing. Though she’d slip to T-14, she still captured low-amateur honors – and everyone’s attention.
“We flew under the radar for a long time,” Rudolph said, “but when Olympic happened, it was like, ‘OK, let’s say goodbye to those days because you’re officially on the radar. You’re going to be it moving forward.’”
Ganne was the Rolex AJGA Junior Player of the Year that winter. The next summer, she went 3-0 in her Curtis Cup debut at Merion before heading off to Stanford, where she’s won twice in three seasons while playing a pivotal role in the Cardinal’s 2024 NCAA Championship, plus national runners-up in 2023 and this past spring.
But when Ganne would hit putts in her family’s basement in Holmdel, New Jersey, some 45 minutes south of New York City, it was to win USGA titles. She’s always held these championships in high regards – the star-studded fields, elite venues, unmatched history.
“Every time the USGA sends me a feedback form, I never know what to say because I don’t know how it could possibly get better,” Ganne said.
Ganne was disqualified from her final U.S. Girls’ Junior in 2022 for signing for an incorrect score, and she missed last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur after withdrawing the week of with food poisoning, a fitting end to a frustrating summer that also saw Ganne miss the Curtis Cup and miss extended time with hip and back injuries.
But that adversity strengthened Ganne, now healthier and more pliable, who navigated 119 holes this week on the David McLay Kidd layout. She tied for 10th in stroke play before winning each of her first four matches without needing to play the par-5 18th hole. That momentum, however, came to a screeching halt in Saturday’s semifinal opposite Australia’s Ella Scaysbrook, who led 4 up with seven holes to play.
On the ropes, Ganne thought about that fearless 15-year-old who nearly pulled off the unthinkable. If she could rally then, surely she could again in what will be her last U.S. Women’s Amateur (she will be pro by next summer).
“There are so many more things to believe in now, although I had a lot of belief at 15 as well,” Ganne said. “But at 15, I don’t think I had nearly the toolset that I do now; I have so many more shots in the bag, my physical game has evolved, my mental game has evolved. It felt like when I was 15, I had to be playing my absolute best golf just to contend with these players, which is a totally different feeling than I have now. I feel like if I play golf that I know is well within my limits and my control, I feel like I’m going to be tough to beat.”
Ganne prevailed in 19 holes to book her place in the championship match against Biermann, who was arguably the sentimental favorite, a bubbly blonde from St. Louis with her dad, Bill, on the bag and younger sister Ashleigh, who has battled a rare chromosomal condition, walking the fairways.
Biermann was also a sizable underdog.
Ganne birdied two of the first three holes to take a 2-up lead through three holes of the morning portion. Though Biermann immediately responded with lengthy birdie makes to tie the match through five frames, the flatstick would soon be her downfall. She whiffed on 3-footers at Nos. 7 and 13, and Ganne went into the lunch break leading, 3 up.
Biermann found a couple sparks in the afternoon, most notably a 12-foot birdie conversion at the par-5 13th to get the ledger back to 3 down. But when she three-putted from just off the green and about 25 feet away at the par-4 14th, Biermann knew that was it. Ganne and her superstar ball-striking, no more evident than the piercing 5-iron she hit to birdie the par-4 11th in the afternoon, were just too much.
“Unfortunately, the putter went cold today,” said Biermann, who will turn pro and enter LPGA Q-School next month, “but overall, I felt like I gave it my all and I had a blast out here.”
Moments later, Ganne landed her tee ball at the par-3 15th just off the left side of the green but only 18 feet from the hole, and after Biermann missed her birdie try, completed her two-putt for USGA immortality.
“To actually have that putt is surreal,” Ganne said.
This time, though, she wasn’t standing in her basement.
When she dropped her putter and immediately put both hands over her mouth, Ganne was illuminated by the setting sun along the Oregon coastline. Golden hour, as they call it, had arrived, and soon, it wasn’t hard to notice the shiny tears starting to roll down Ganne’s face as she embraced her loved ones, including her parents, Hari and Sudha, and Rudolph.
“I hope this helps her take the lid off things and she just starts winning everything,” Rudolph said.
That 7-year-old girl with the bright future? She’s still the same girl, only now she’s a U.S. Women’s Amateur champion.
Read the full article here