Ladies and gentlemen, your National Champion – Farah O’Keefe!
After beginning the fourth round tied for first with Southern California’s Catherine Park, O’Keefe lost the lead after bogeying her second hole. However, after two more birdies on the front nine, she was back in contention. While her back nine looks like a bit of a rollercoaster on the scorecard with three bogeys and three birdies, her calm demeanor on the course is to be commended. After a missed drive caused a second-shot shank on hole 14, O’Keefe saved bogey.
On the 17th hole, she asked her assistant coach, Braden Ash, how the team was doing. He replied Texas was in for match play the next day by seven strokes and she was leading by two. That knowledge comforted her and opened her up to two more birdies on the way in. Those two birdies won her the title.
O’Keefe played conservatively most of the day. On the par-5 18th hole, she hit a 6-iron off the tee, followed by another 6-iron, followed by a wedge. She then sunk a 15-foot putt for birdie, something she wasn’t expecting. She claims that surprise is why she threw her arms up to celebrate.
“[It felt] euphoric. I couldn’t breathe,” she told Fairway to Green’s Kelly Okun.
A few moments later, Stanford’s Megha Ganne sunk a similar-length putt for birdie on Hole 18, putting her at 10-under overall. O’Keefe finished at 12-under.
Beyond O’Keefe’s incredible skill on the golf course are her affable personality and maturity. She’s generous with her time, and she’s her authentic self everywhere she goes. And her mental game? She says all the right things about thought patterns and grounding, but you can tell she genuinely lives them. They brought her to the winner’s circle today.
However, while O’Keefe said she’ll take a few moments to celebrate and process checking off one of her childhood goals – a national title – she said it’ll soon be time to get back to work. She wants to bring home the National Championship to her hometown, Austin, TX.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championship: The Elite 8
That brings us to our final 8 teams in the NCAA Championship. Today was tough, as can be seen by some of the highest scores thus far. Whether it was the weather, pressure or both, some teams thrived, some survived and others lost.
Stanford is once again the first seed heading into match play tomorrow. They shot 1-under as a team to shoot 22-under overall. Southern California had their first day over par as a team, but they maintained their second position.
A surprising drop today was Oklahoma State, who shot 13-over, but still stayed within the top 8. They’ll be the 6th seed going into tomorrow. Who moved up? Arkansas, Texas and Eastern Michigan, who had the best round today as a team at 4-under. They’re being called the “Cinderella story” of the week. This is their first-ever NCAA Championship appearance, and they’re heading to match play as the 5th seed.
Rounding out the qualifiers are Duke and Pepperdine. Duke freshman Rianne Malixi had a chance at the title during her back nine today and ultimately finished third.
Iowa State, who was in the top 5 the first three rounds, finished just outside the cutline after a tough day on the course. Arizona State and Florida were also in and out of the cutline but ultimately finished 10th and 11th, respectively.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championship Team Leaderboard
1. Stanford (-22)
2. Southern California (-9)
T3. Arkansas (+1)
T3. Texas (+1)
5. Eastern Michigan (+2)
6. Oklahoma State (+3)
7. Duke (+7)
8. Pepperdine (+11)
————————- (cutline)
9. Iowa State (+12)
10. Arizona State (+13)
11. Florida (+16)
T12. SMU (+23)
T12. Missouri (+23)
14. Northwestern (+25)
15. North Carolina (+26)
2026 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championship Individual Leaderboard
1. Farah O’Keefe / Texas (-12)
2. Megha Ganne / Stanford (-10)
3. Rianne Malixi / Duke (-9)
4. Catherine Park / Southern California (-8)
T5. Maria José Marin / Arkansas (-7)
T5. Kyra Van Kan / Tennessee (-7)
Quarterfinal Tee Times at the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Golf Championship
The matching ceremony produced all the pairs you’ll see below for tomorrow’s first match. The Semifinals pairings and afternoon tee times will be available after play concludes in the morning.
All times are local in PT.
Match 1 (off Hole 1): Southern California vs. Duke
6:50am: Catherine Park (USC) vs. Andie Smith (Duke)
7:00am: Jasmine Koo (USC) vs. Rianne Malixi (Duke)
7:10am: Bailey Shoemaker (USC) vs. Avery McCrery (Duke)
7:20am: Elise Lee (USC) vs. Katie Li (Duke)
7:30am: Kylie Chong (USC) vs. Anna Cañado Espinal (Duke)
Match 2 (off Hole 1): Texas vs. Eastern Michigan
7:40am: Lauren Kim (Texas) vs. Erina Tan (Eastern Michigan)
7:50am: Cindy Hsu (Texas) vs. Jasmine Leovao (Eastern Michigan)
8:00am: Farah O’Keefe (Texas) vs. Janae Leovao (Eastern Michigan)
8:10am: Angela Heo (Texas) vs. Savannah de Bock (Eastern Michigan)
8:20am: Selina Liao (Texas) vs. Baiyok Sukterm (Eastern Michigan)
Match 3 (off Hole 10): Arkansas vs. Oklahoma State
6:50am: Reagan Zibilski (Arkansas) vs. Ellie Bushnell (Oklahoma State)
7:00am: Abbey Schutte (Arkansas) vs. Summer Lee (Oklahoma State)
7:10am: Sara Brentcheneff (Arkansas) vs. Yu-Chu Chen (Oklahoma State)
7:20am: Maria José Marin (Arkansas) vs. Marta Silchenko (Oklahoma State)
7:30am: Natalie Elonien (Arkansas) vs. Tarapeth Panya (Oklahoma State)
Match 4 (off Hole 10): Stanford vs. Pepperdine
7:40am: Meja Örtengren (Stanford) vs. Grace Anderson (Pepperdine)
7:50am: Andrea Revuelta (Stanford) vs. Kylee Choi (Pepperdine)
8:00am: Paula Martín Sampedro (Stanford) vs. Yingzhi Zhu (Pepperdine)
8:10am: Kelly Xu (Stanford) vs. Jeneath Wong (Pepperdine)
8:20am: Megha Ganne (Stanford) vs. Eunseo Choi (Pepperdine)
