The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women’s Golf’s O’Keefe wins Western Amateur Championship
07.20.2024 | Women's Golf
O’Keefe earned medalist honors in stroke play and won the match-play portion of the tournament.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Texas women's golf's Farah O'Keefe earned the 124th Women's Western Amateur Championship on Saturday at Onwentsia Club.
O'Keefe was the No. 1 seed in match play following earning medalist honors with a two-day 8-under-par score in stroke play.
O'Keefe was one of four Texas players who qualified for match play, along with Selina Liao, Bohyun Park and Cindy Hsu.
O'Keefe and Hsu advanced to the semifinals of match play where they went up against each other. In a closely contested match, O'Keefe came out on top with a 2&1 victory.
O'Keefe faced off against Elise Lee in the final match and came away with a 2UP victory to secure the championship title. After the two exchanged a hug, O'Keefe started pumping her fist and celebrating.
"The adrenaline is still going pretty good right now," O'Keefe said. "They say it's the curse of the medalist, so I was trying to prove that wrong. That was just the excitement of the whole week coming out."
The Austin, Texas, native was named the Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year after a standout season that included five top-10 finishes. She captured a victory when she shared first place at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. O'Keefe also was part of the USA Team that won the Palmer Cup in Ireland earlier this month.
The last Longhorn to win the Western Amateur was Emilee Hoffman in 2018. Brigitte Thibault was the 2020 champion before she came to Texas in 2021.
Next up the Longhorns will have six golfers competing in the U.S. Women's Amateur, Aug. 5-11 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Held without interruption since its inception in 1901, the Women's Western Amateur is among the oldest annual championships in women's amateur golf. Each year, it attracts many of the top amateur and collegiate golfers in the world. The list of past champions spans more than a century, from legendary stars Patty Berg (1938) and Louise Suggs (1946, 1947) to modern standouts like Brittany Lang (2003), Stacy Lewis (2006) and Ariya Jutanugarn (2012).
Players Mentioned
