HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 26: Farah O’Keefe of the United States smiles during the final round of The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images
AUSTIN — The list was scribbled down in different color markers on three pieces of paper when she was 11 years old but already very mature beyond her years.
The list, taped to her bedroom wall, included about 30 life goals that Farah O’Keefe set for herself as a precocious fifth-grader who is a lot of things, but none of them typical. Where to start?
The Austin native played nearly every sport there is, even flag football.
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She carries a 3.50 grade-point average at Texas, which she calls “decent.”
She played basketball, tennis, even played the stand-up bass in school orchestra until her junior year at Anderson High School.
She’s been mountain biking with her devoted younger brother, Elias, but almost knocked out her braces when she flipped over the handle bars and the pavement won.
Little wonder that Michael and Marlene O’Keefe gave her a first name that means joy in Arabic.
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“She is true to her name,” her mom said Friday. “She brings light and joy.”
HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 24: Farah O’Keefe of the United States lines up a putt on the eighth green during the second round of The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 24, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Farah O’Keefe of United States plays her stroke from the No. 12 tee during the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club, Saturday, April 04, 2026.. (Photo by Kieran Cleeves/Augusta National/Getty Images)
Augusta National/Augusta National/Getty Images
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 04: Farah O’Keefe of the United States plays her shot from the 12th hole tee during the third round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club on April 04, 2026 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
NAIRN, SCOTLAND – JUNE 15: Farah O’Keefe of USA reacts during the Final on Day Six of the R&A Women’s Amateur Championship at Nairn Golf Club on June 15, 2025 in Nairn, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Parker/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Ross Parker/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Yeah, she’s pretty much the complete package, especially for someone her coach labels “a superstar.” Add humble to that list as well, because Farah’s not all that comfortable with the label.
Oh, did we mention she’s the No. 1 ranked player in women’s college golf?
She’s had three wins this year and two other top-three finishes in 11 events and is fresh off competing in her fourth LPGA event and third major, where she tied for low amateur at the Chevron Championship at Memorial Park in Houston and finished 38th after an opening-round 68. She is so long off the tee that she can outdrive most of her college rivals, and she has terrific iron play, though her putting could improve a tad.
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And she’s always hunting for ways to get better.
Her major is psychology, something she uses to her advantage when visualizing shots on a particular course or overcoming the rare double bogey.
She and her team work regularly with noted sports psychologist Brian Cain to help harness their emotions and stay on track.
“She’s definitely playing her best golf,” Texas second-year head coach Laura Ianello said. “She’s going to be first-team All-American. If you want my honest opinion, her and (Arkansas’) Maria Jose Marin will be up for national player of the year.”
So just how many of those official goals has O’Keefe checked off that famous list, which she’s still kept to this day?
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“I don’t know,” she said a bit sheepishly. “Probably four.”
Yeah, she still hasn’t gotten her LPGA Tour card or made it into the Women’s Golf Hall of Fame quite yet or, oh, by the way, won the 20 majors she cited as goals. As she’s said, there’s time. While her friends might have been dressing up their doll collections or babysitting the neighbor’s toddlers for spending money, Farah O’Keefe was already fine-tuning her budding career as a golfer.
She knew this was going to be a long journey.
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And it has already, but she’s well on her way.
“Maybe some were a little ambitious,” a chuckling O’Keefe admitted. “But dream big, right?”
Now don’t think for a minute she doesn’t have fun. She’s about as serious as a circus clown. Her coach calls her “goofy,” a trait Farah readily embraces. But she’s also an unmitigated, around-the-clock prankster. And no one is off-limits.
Take her not-so-secret hobby: scaring people. She clearly has some Stephen King in her.
Farah absolutely loves hiding and jumping around corners or out of closets to frighten the bejeezus out of friends and family.
Anderson’s Farah O’Keefe savors the State Championship Gold for earning best score at the UIL Class 5A State Girls golf tournament on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at White Wings Golf Club in Georgetown, TX.
John Gutierrez/Special to American-Statesman
What else would you expect of a middle-schooler who once thought it was cool to wear a red cape to sixth-grade class at Bryker Woods and seventh grade at what was then called Fulmore Middle School? Sometimes she paired it with a Burger King paper crown. She still has the cape. And any good-natured razzing just rolled off her back. She is unapologetically herself — not that she’d need to apologize for anything.
She loves trying crazy trick shots on a basketball court or flop shots on a golf course. But her passion is scaring folks.
“I was pretty weird growing up,” she admitted. “I’m just loud. I love to laugh, but I try to scare people all the time. I got my mom good one day but she got real mad.”
“I told her, you’re probably going to give me a heart attack,” Marlene said.
She’s tried to tone it down a bit since the time she was hiding around a corner on a hotel floor and jumped out to petrify a couple of older folks. Her teammates, walking behind them, couldn’t stop laughing.
“They were pretty spooked,” she said.
What’s really scary, however, is how good a golfer she can be.
CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA – MAY 16: Farah O’Keefe of the Texas Longhorns lines up a putt on the first green during day one of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 16, 2025 in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
This is a college junior on the verge of turning 21 next month who puts the “well” into well-rounded but at the same time is totally focused on winning Texas’ first women’s golf national championship.
Of course, that was on the list, too.
O’Keefe and talented teammates such as junior Lauren Kim and senior Cindy Hsu finished runner-up in the SEC Championship and will take aim at that lofty ambition at a 12-team NCAA regional tournament Monday in Chapel Hill, N.C. The top five teams advance to nationals May 22–27. Texas is ranked fifth.
And that trademark goofiness doesn’t get in her way because she brings a natural inquisitiveness and curiosity to her sessions with Cain, who also works with the Longhorn baseball team and about 50 major leaguers, as well as Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
“She’s excellent because she’s so inquisitive and always wants more,” Cain said of O’Keefe. “Texas has really embraced it and used it. Farah focuses not on outcome but on a one-shot process. People always say you can’t show emotion if you’re a golfer, but Tiger Woods was the biggest club-thrower there was and he was the best ever. Farah allows her to be herself.”
This vivacious, brown-eyed brunette with extra doses of personality and energy comes from good stock — athletic stock at that. She was taught the game by her father, Michael, who is a tennis coach at a private academy in Buda and a former pro rugby player.
ERIN, WISCONSIN – MAY 31: Farah O’Keefe of the United Staes hugs her caddie, Michael O’Keefe, on the 18th green during the third round of the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally 2025 at Erin Hills Golf Course on May 31, 2025 in Erin, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
“He’s a golf nut. He eats, breathes and sleeps golf,” O’Keefe said. “He introduced me to the game when I was an infant. I can remember being in a stroller with him when he’d go out and hit balls.”
Well, she doesn’t actually remember, but she was told that story by her dad, who first cut down a club to fit her when she was 2 years old and they’d hit balls together on a golf course next to their home. He’s a pretty fair golfer himself with a 1 or a 2 handicap. Or, as she said he claims, he’s a scratch golfer.
Did we mention competitiveness runs in the family?
So much so that the two used to square off in golf bets, with the loser having to spring for the post-round chocolate milk.
“Yeah, I lost a lot of my chores money to that,” she said.
At least, until she reached 13 or 14 when dad would become the one who had to start forking over. This golf is serious business.
Her mother is no less competitive or athletic. In fact, her mother Marlene was a black belt in Taekwondo and won a state championship and placed at nationals as a senior high schooler in Fort Worth. Had she not chosen to devote herself to her studies, she could have competed in that sport in the Olympics. Farah gets her strong sense of discipline from her mom.
“She’s this badass,” Ianello said. “Her mom when she was young used to ride motorcycles like Ninjas. Farah really idolizes her mom for how strong she is.”
Marlene also has fiercely juggled her two jobs — one as a middle-school teacher of robotics and computer programming and another as manager of her daughter’s busy golf career. That means Marlene handles all the nonstop hotel bookings, airfare reservations and driving to tournaments over the years.
“She’s the cornerstone of our family,” Farah said. “She’s so incredibly strong. She’s turned into a mom-ager.”
Half mom and half manager, but full-time head of the family. Somehow she also works out three times a week and takes a 30-minute walk every day. She has the figure to show for it.
“Oh yeah, she’s got a six-pack,” Farah said. “She’s a freak athlete herself. She’s just a beast.”
Again, it runs in the family, even counting her brother, who will be a freshman deep snapper for the East Texas A&M football team this fall. But then Marlene played quarterback for her high school power puff football squad as well.
On Thursday, O’Keefe was named to the 12-player watch list for the Division I PING WGCA Player of the Year award. She’s already the 2026 SEC Golfer of the Year, as well as the No. 1-ranked player in women’s college golf and No. 4 in the world amateur rankings. She was Big 12 Player of the Year as a freshman.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 26: Nelly Korda (C) of the United States poses with the Dinah Shore Trophy alongside top amateurs Yunseo Yang (L) of South Korea and Farah O’Keefe of the United States after The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
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O’Keefe has won three collegiate events this season and finished in the top 10 in all 11 collegiate events. She was also the low amateur at the Chevron Championship on the LPGA Tour — won by Nelly Korda for her 17th victory — and has secured spots for Team USA on the Curtis Cup and Palmer Cup this summer, with Ianello serving as one of the coaches. This is a Texas team with three All-SEC golfers, including Kim and Hsu, and one that has what it takes to win the school’s first title.
“Absolutely they do,” said Ianello, who both played for a national champion at Arizona and later coached the program to a title. “Women’s golf is super competitive, but we’ve got a very strong team. We’ve got to get there and play well in stroke play, and in match play, we have everything it takes.”
Back to those goals O’Keefe jotted down all those years ago.
She accomplished winning a state golf championship for Anderson High School and playing at Pinehurst and earning a college scholarship, but some of the others are still well within her reach.
Off the golf course, she can’t wait to check off boxes such as buying a house and owning a pink truck and a farm stocked with animals. She never got the bunny she wanted, but she did have a pet guinea pig for a bit.
She’s not leaving Texas quite yet, however. She committed long ago to returning for her senior season.
“Going pro has been the plan since Day One,” she said. “But unless something dramatic happened like I didn’t lose a single event, I was always staying for my senior year. There’s no reason to rush. That’s always going to be there.”
Not surprisingly, O’Keefe has her eyes on being the best.
HOUSTON, TEXAS – APRIL 26: Farah O’Keefe of the United States plays her shot from the 12th tee during the final round of The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images
So could she be the next Nelly Korda, who is the world’s No. 1 player and actually consoled her about some missed putts at Chevron?
“Why not,” O’Keefe said. “It’d be cool to have an American versus American rivalry.”
Was that specifically on her famous list?
“No,” she said, laughing, “but it has had some edits.”