The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women’s Golf’s O’Keefe earns medalist honors at Western Amateur
07.18.2024 | Women's Golf
Farah O’Keefe will be the No. 1 seed as she advances to the match play portion of the tournament.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Texas women's golf's Farah O'Keefe continued her strong summer as she earned medalist honors at the Women's Western Amateur at Onwentsia Club. O'Keefe credited her success to being part of a competitive team at The University of Texas.
"We all work really, really hard," said O'Keefe, the 2024 Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year. "It's great to just have competitive playing partners right there next to you all the time."
O'Keefe has been better than everyone through two days of the 124th Women's Western Amateur at Onwentsia Club. The Austin, Texas, native posted a 3-under 69 in the second round on Wednesday to capture medalist honors. Her two-day score of 8-under put her one shot ahead of Western Kentucky's Catie Craig and clinched the top seed heading into match play.
O'Keefe joins an accomplished list of medalists, including Grace Park, Brittany Lang, Stacy Lewis, Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson and Louise Suggs. She's trying to become the first Longhorn to win the Women's Western Amateur since Emilee Hoffman in 2018.
As the championship shifts to match play, O'Keefe can draw on some recent success. She helped Team USA win the Arnold Palmer Cup in Ireland earlier this month, winning her singles match on the final day.
"The biggest thing for match play is limiting your mistakes," she said. "If you're making a lot of pars, you're putting a lot of pressure on your playing opponent. Especially if you drop a few putts here and there, it's even more pressure."
In addition to O'Keefe, Selina Liao, Bohyun Park and Cindy Hsu also advanced to the match play portion of the tournament for Texas.
Players Mentioned
