Farah O’Keefe won all five of her Curtis Cup matches, including two with Jasmine Koo (left).
Ryan Sun, R&A via Getty Images
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA | Reigning NCAA champion Farah O’Keefe was a standout for the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team.
O’Keefe, a rising University of Texas senior, went a perfect 5-0 at Bel-Air Country Club. After going 2-0 with Jasmine Koo in four-balls and 2-0 with Avery Weed in foursomes, she came back from a two-hole deficit early in the back nine to defeat Charlotte Naughton in Sunday singles. When her match went dormie at No. 16, it guaranteed the U.S. would regain the Curtis Cup.
O’Keefe won the NCAA individual championship on May 25 in Carlsbad, California, before competing two weeks ago in the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club, where she finished T34.
“I’ve played a lot of golf in the last month and a half,” she said. “This is what I love to do, and this is my passion. Even though my body is hurting and everything is feeling kind of old, I’m still enjoying it, and I think I’m running on a little bit of adrenaline.”
Kiara Romero, the world’s No. 1 ranked amateur, and Asterisk Talley, the American Junior Golf Association’s top-ranked girl, were formidable as a pair and individually at Bel-Air.
The duo won both of their four-ball matches, and each scored a critical singles victory that helped the U.S. team regain the Curtis Cup. Romero defeated Isla McDonald-O’Brien, 1 up, clinching victory with a conceded birdie after a stellar approach to the 18th hole, while Talley beat Davina Xanh, 2 and 1.
Their only blemish as a pair came in Friday foursomes, in which they lost to Beth Coulter and McDonald-O’Brien, 3 and 2. One down to the American pair through 12 holes, Coulter and McDonald-O’Brien won the next four holes with pars to close out the match.
Romero finished with a 3-1 record, while Talley posted a 3-2 mark.
Great Britain & Ireland’s Patience Rhodes and Sophia Fullbrook stood out in a losing cause, going 3-1 as a pairing before posting victories in singles.
Rhodes and Fullbrook won both of their four-ball matches and split their foursomes tilts, falling only to O’Keefe and Weed on Friday, 3 and 2. Rhodes and Fullbrook are only the second GB&I pairing since 2008 to earn three points together in a Curtis Cup (Bronte Law and Olivia Mehaffey earned three in 2016).
Going out in the first two singles matches on Sunday, Rhodes and Fullbrook briefly gave GB&I hope of an upset, with Rhodes defeating Kelly Xu, 1 up, and Fullbrook topping Weed, 1 up.
Every player on the GB&I team attended, attends or will attend college in the United States. Among those competing for the visitors were Lily Hirst, who graduated from the University of Kansas last year; Xanh, who just completed her senior season at Cal State Fullerton; Fullbrook, a rising junior at Florida State; Nellie Ong, a rising Ohio State junior; and Naughton, who signed to play for the University of Alabama starting this fall.
There were also three members of the GB&I squad who played for Arizona State last season: Rhodes, Coulter and McDonald-O’Brien.
Playing college golf in the United States offers an advantage, Ong said. For one, the players become accustomed to American golf courses, which are very different from links-style courses back home. Different shots are needed to be successful. There’s also preparation for playing on a big stage.
“In college golf, we’re often exposed to media, like Golf Channel, that can prepare us for events like this where we know it's going to be broadcasted,” Ong said. “We’ve had a few events where we can be prepared for it, and we’re in a good space mentally, and it’s not a sudden shock.”
That the U.S. team won the Curtis Cup is hardly a surprise when you consider the squad’s massive advantage on paper.
The average World Amateur Golf Ranking of the American team was 13.63, while the average WAGR of the GB&I team was 116.25.
The GB&I team’s highest-ranked player was Rhodes (20th). Four more players were in the top 100: Fullbrook (38), Ong (59), Naughton (88) and McDonald-O’Brien (97). Rounding out the squad were Coulter (106), Xanh (111) and Hirst (411).
Meanwhile, the United States had three players in the top 10: Romero (1), O’Keefe (3) and Talley (8). The rest of the team ranked in the top 30: Koo (12), Kelly Xu (14), Davis (18), Kary Hollenbaugh (23) and Weed (30).
The U.S. led 4-2 after the first day. In the history of the match, in Curtis Cups that were multiple days (all but two), the team that has led after the first day is 30-6-2. Since the format was changed to three days in 2008, the team up after the first day is 5-3-0. The losses were GB&I in 2010, the U.S. in 2012 and GB&I in 2021.
After the second day, the U.S. maintained its two-point advantage and led, 7-5. Since 2008, teams that led after the second day of the Curtis Cup are 8-1-0. The only time in that span the team that led after the second day didn’t lift the cup was in 2012, when the U.S. led, 6½-5½, on Saturday but lost, 10½-9½.
Since 2008, the U.S. leads GB&I in singles, 52½-25½, including a whopping 21-3 advantage in the last three home matches.
Each Curtis Cup competitor earned two LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway points. Players who amass 20 points earn LPGA membership. After the Curtis Cup, Romero sits at 18.
Everett Munez
