LOS ANGELES — Farah O’Keefe is playing in her first Curtis Cup, and like anything she does, she makes it look easy, whether it is or not.
O’Keefe was paired with Jasmine Koo in the morning and Avery Weed in the afternoon, and the results were the same—wins for the U.S. The 21-year-old O’Keefe, the third-ranked amateur in the world, was the day’s only unbeaten player on Friday and helped the Americans take a 4-2 lead over Great Britain & Ireland on Day 1 at Bel-Air Country Club.
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The U.S. heads into the weekend with confidence and momentum as it tries to win the Cup back after losing by one point in England two years ago.
“Honestly, at the beginning of the week it didn’t really matter who I was paired with because everybody on our team truly gets along,” said O’Keefe, the University of Texas star.
“There’s not one person that’s not enjoying themselves this week. We were talking about it the other night, and it’s just like everybody on our team has a fantastic sense of humor. They don’t take themselves too seriously, which I think is kind of important. At the same time, we’re all really, really good at what we do, and I think we put a lot of effort and time into our craft so that when it comes time to perform, it’s there”
O’Keefe has been on a tear, making the cut at the Chevron Championship and last week’s U.S. Women’s Open. Between those majors, she won the NCAA individual championship.
Asterisk Talley
Asterisk Talley hits out of a bunker.
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Chris Keane
Chemistry with both of her playing partners was palpable for O’Keefe, evidenced by orchestrated handshakes and hip bumps. O’Keefe brings a big game and fun, and in a team event like this, that’s priceless.
“We were kind of planning it during some of those practice rounds,” O’Keefe said of the different handshakes and celebrations. “Avery and I were like, ‘We need to come up with something to do when something goes our way.’ It just kept happening today. So it was cool.
“Same thing with Jasmine in the morning. We were on the putting green, and she said we should make a handshake, so we made a handshake in like three seconds, and we just kept doing that through the rest of the round. It’s cool.”
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O’Keefe will be paired with Koo in the morning again for Saturday’s fourball matches, too.
The Americans, who haven’t lost the Curtis Cup on home soil in 40 years, are keeping the good vibes going and are off to a great start to keep that streak alive.
The U.S. took a 2-1 lead in the morning fourball matches with O’Keefe and Koo beating Charlotte Naughton and Nellie Ong 2 up. World Amateur No. 1 Kiara Romero and 17-year-old Asterisk Talley beat Lily Hirst and Davina Xanh 4 and 2. The lone American loss came when Anna Davis and Kelly Xu were defeated 2 and 1 by Sophia Fullbrook and Patience Rhodes.
One of the highlights of the morning belonged to O’Keefe when she eagled the first hole—which U.S. captain Meghan Stasi reminded her about when the player was talking about how good the U.S. putting was.
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“That was good. That was really good,” O’Keefe said. “Then in the afternoon [on the first hole of alternate shot], Avery hit it down there like 290, and I had a 7-iron, and I hit it to like six feet [and tied the hole with birdie]. It was just crazy. We played that hole fantastic”
Then there was O’Keefe’s putt for birdie at the 18th with the U.S. leading 1 up. She walked it in to end the match 2 up.
“I was thinking just good pace here because a par still wins the match,” O’Keefe said. “Then I noticed four feet out that it was online, so I decided to be a little cocky because why not?”
After dominating in the morning, Romero and Talley were paired again in the afternoon, and they had a back-and-forth match going against GB&I’s Beth Coulter and Isla McDonald-O’Brien in the afternoon but stumbled on the back nine and lost the last four holes. Davis and Xu defeated Naughton and Ong 4 and 3, and O’Keefe and Weed beat Fullbrook and Rhodes 3 and 2 to close the final match of the day. Weed made a five-footer to clinch the match and got a big hug from O’Keefe.
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“Farah can be paired with anyone,” Stasi said. “She’s so energetic. She’s got all that energy that she can bring and pump someone up when they really need it. Avery and her have very similar games, flight-wise and length-wise. I just thought they were going to be really strong together.”
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