Farah O’Keefe rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on her final hole Monday at Omni La Costa Resort, raising her hands in triumph. It wasn’t quite over as she needed to wait for her competitors to finish, but when all the cards were signed, O’Keefe was a national champion.
The University of Texas junior captured the individual title at the NCAA DI Women’s Golf Championships, finishing at 12 under par.
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On a difficult scoring day in Carlsbad, California, O’Keefe made six birdies and four bogeys for a 2-under 70. It’s O’Keefe’s fourth stroke-play win in a breakthrough season that has seen her rise to No. 4 in the Women’s Amateur Golf Rankings.
Next up is her Longhorns’ bid for a team title in the match-play portion, which begins Monday. Texas was one of eight teams to advance to the knockout stage, where as a 4-seed they will face No. 5 Eastern Michigan.
And they will do so with the best player in women’s college golf leading the way. O’Keefe began the final round at Omni La Costa as a co-leader alongside USC senior Catherine Park. Despite making four bogeys – two on par 5s – O’Keefe rolled in six birdies, including on Nos. 17 and 18.
“I just kept breathing,” O’Keefe said, “and telling myself to get through the next shot.”
The Austin, Texas, native is the third Longhorn to win a women’s individual title, joining Charlotta Sorenstam (1993) and Heather Bowie (1997).
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