Farah O’Keefe Wins Historic Women’s Western Amateur

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Farah O’Keefe had heard about the alleged “curse” of the Women’s Western Amateur medalist. She was determined to break it.

The Texas rising sophomore did just that on Saturday, outlasting Elise Lee, of Irvine, California, 2 up in the final of the 124th Women’s Western Amateur at Onwentsia Club. A match with plenty of fireworks on the closing nine ended on a quiet note, as Lee made bogey on the 18th and eventually conceded the winning putt. 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.”

In winning at Onwentsia – the site of the first Women’s Western Amateur – O’Keefe became the first medalist to win the W.A. Alexander Cup since Marissa Wenzler in 2021. She joins a list of champions that includes legends like Patty Berg, Louise Suggs and Nancy Lopez, as well as modern standouts like Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lang, Stacy Lewis and Ariya Jutanugarn.

She did it in dominant fashion. O’Keefe took a share of the first-round lead with a 5-under 67 on Tuesday, then backed that up with a 3-under 69 in the second round to clinch medalist honors at 8-under par. She breezed through match play, never seeing the 18th hole until the final against Lee.

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, but her only amateur victory came when she shared first place at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate.

“Actually getting a first place all by myself is pretty cool,” O’Keefe said. “I’ve been close so many times. To come out on top, finally, it feels really good.”

O’Keefe won the first hole on Saturday morning and never trailed. But Lee, who played first into almost every green, was able to keep applying pressure.

She birdied the par-5 12th to cut the lead to one. After O’Keefe pushed the lead back to 2 up with a birdie on the par-4 15th, Lee poured in a 20-footer for birdie to win the par-4 16th. She made a nervy four-footer for par on No. 17 to stay 1 down and force O’Keefe to the 18th tee for the first time in match play.

“I was just thinking I have to force something to at least make it to the last hole,” Lee said. “It ended up working out.”

Both players saw their approaches to the 175-yard, par-3 18th roll just through the green. Knowing she likely needed a birdie to extend the match, Lee ran her putt past the hole. She missed her comeback attempt and, with O’Keefe facing a short par putt, the match was over.

Lee, an incoming Northwestern freshman, had a sizeable cheering section, including Wildcats coach Emily Fletcher and two of her future teammates, Jieni Li and Lauryn Nguyen.

“I actually felt the support coming and I felt the cheers,” Lee said.

Onwentsia withstood torrential rains that forced a lengthy weather delay before Tuesday’s first round. The golf course O’Keefe and Lee had to navigate on Saturday morning was unrecognizable from the one they saw at the beginning of the week.

“It changed so much,” O’Keefe said. “On Monday, you could throw the ball right at the hole and it would either stop and it in its own ball mark or it would rip back. Today you were playing for bounces with a wedge. Incredible work by the grounds crew to really turn it into a championship golf course.”

Round of 32 Results - Thursday, July 18, 2024

Upper Bracket
Farah O’Keefe, Austin, Texas, def. Hsin Chun Liao, Taiwan, 5 and 3
Casey Weidenfeld, Pembroke Pines, Fla., def. Sadie Englemann, Austin, Texas, 19 holes
Caitlin Peirce, Australia, def. Avery McCrery, Wilmington, Del., 5 and 4
Lauren Dainia Olivares, Celaya, Mexico, def. June Song, Australia, 3 and 2
Riana Mission, Las Vegas, Nev., def. Caitlyn Macnab, South Africa, 1 up
Kary Hollenbaugh, New Albany, Ohio, def. Anna Huang, Canada, 3 and 1
Momo Sugiyama, Australia, def. Anna Morgan, Spartanburg, S.C., 3 and 2
Huai-Chien Hsu, Taiwan, def. Morgan Smith, Westford, Mass., 21 holes

Lower Bracket
Justice Bosio, Australia, def. Catie Craig, Sautee Nacoochee, Ga., 1 up
Elise Lee, Irvine, Calif., def. Bohyun Park, Korea, 6 and 4
Grace Summerhays, Scottsdale, Ariz., def. Chloe Holder, Anderson, S.C., 3 and 2
Isabella Rawl, Lexington, S.C., def. Jazy Roberts, Australia, 4 and 3
Annabelle Pancake, Zionsville, Ind., def. Kelly Xu, Claremont, Calif., 1 up
Alice Hodge, Larchmont, N.Y., def. Siuue Wu, Hong Kong, 2 and 1
Macy Pate, Winston Salem, N.C., def. Sydney Roberts, Chesnee, S.C., 2 and 1
Kaitlyn Schroeder, Jacksonville, Fla., def. Lynn Lim, Gallatin, Tenn., 5 and 3

Sweet 16 Results - Thursday, July 18, 2024 

Upper Bracket
O’Keefe def. Weidenfeld, 3 and 2
Olivares def. Peirce 5 and 3
Mission def. Hollenbaugh, 1 up
Hsu def. Sugiyama, 22 holes 

Lower Bracket
Lee def. Bosio, 1 up
Rawl def. Summerhays, 1 up
Hodge def. Pancake, 3 and 1
Pate def. Schroeder, 1 up

Quarterfinal Results - Friday, July 19, 2024

Upper Bracket
O’Keefe def. Olivares, 3 and 1
Hsu def. Mission, 1 up

Lower Bracket
Lee def. Rawl, 2 and 1
Pate def. Hodge, 2 up

Semifinal Results - Friday, July 19, 2024 

O’Keefe def. Hsu, 2 and 1
Lee def. Pate, 2 up

Championship Match - Saturday, July 20, 2024

O’Keefe def. Lee, 2 up