HOUSTON, Texas — Farah O’Keefe wants to set the record straight—she personally knows the Fortnite guy.

The University of Texas Longhorn mentioned in her pre-tournament press conference that she had a guy from Oklahoma with whom she regularly plays the online video game coming to watch her compete in The Chevron Championship this week. And even though she defined him as a friend, people got a little concerned for her safety when she didn’t make it known that they knew each other quite well in real life.

“He showed up while I was playing. Hoping to go get dinner with him,” said O’Keefe. “That was crazy. I realized after all that came out yesterday, we were at dinner and saw it on Skratch. We both freaked out. We were freaking out in a steakhouse. I realized that he and my brother have never met before so this will be their first time meeting, so it's kind of funny.

“I also had several people reach out to me if I've ever met this guy before and if he's some creep. I played a lot of golf with this kid. I feel like I should clarify that. I know him very well.”

O’Keefe was one of the most well-supported athletes at Memorial Park Golf Course on Thursday, with several of her family and friends donning Texas orange and rooting her on as members of the gallery in Houston. The Austin native opened with a 4-under 68 in the first round, a nearly flawless day-one effort that saw O’Keefe make five birdies and just one bogey to kick off her third appearance in a major championship.

“After I chipped in on my 12th or 13th hole, I look at Bentley (Cotton, her Texas teammate and caddie), we looked at each other because we have a tally going between us, a little bit of a challenge for the year. I looked at her and I was like, ‘Man, I'm feeling a little nervous now. this is kind of cool,’” said O’Keefe. “Then on 18, it was my ninth hole of the day, and I peeked at the leaderboard. I was fully expecting 6-, 7-under to be into the clubhouse. I realized I was T8 and I was, oh, okay, we're good. We're hanging in there.”

O’Keefe’s opening 68 tied the second-lowest first-round score by an amateur in a major championship, and it’s lowest score the 20-year-old has shot in any of her three previous LPGA Tour starts, a slate of events that includes the 2021 Volunteers of America Classic, the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach and the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills.

Her 68 also left O’Keefe lurking just three shots behind Nelly Korda, who led The Chevron Championship after firing a 65 in round one, a position that feels like a dream-come-true to the young amateur. But Farah is working hard to not let the warmth of the spotlight cloud her competitive judgement.

“I think it's a dream. It's something that you think about every once in a while and hope for, but I feel like I'm trying to stay composed,” said O’Keefe. “There is a lot more golf left to be played. The job is not done, and I'm just going to keep doing what I have been doing because it just happens to be working. I'm not going to force anything. Try to get too flustered. Just keep playing my game.”

O’Keefe is one of eight ams in the field at The Chevron Championship, receiving a sponsor invitation to tee it up in one of now just seven majors to ever be contested in her home state. And while she is trying to put on a fabulous show for some of the local Texas contingent who have showed up to support her, O’Keefe likely has a few grander things on her mind, namely, securing more points in the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway.

The Pathway provides high-level amateur athletes with a road to LPGA Tour membership via a points-based system that’s weighted based on accomplishment. An athlete needs 20 points to be eligible for membership. O’Keefe currently has four LEAP points and will secure two more if she’s able to finish inside the top 25 and ties at the year’s first major tournament.

But after such a strong start, one has to wonder if O’Keefe is now thinking about making the jump into the water on 18 and hoisting the Dinah Shore Trophy with her friends and family looking on. It’s something that hasn’t been done since Catherine Lacoste won the U.S. Women’s Open back in 1967 as an amateur, despite several athletes coming oh-so-close over the years.

And with 54 holes remaining at a challenging, damp Memorial Park, O’Keefe is going to be giving it her all, throwing everything she can at this golf course to try and make her Texas-sized dreams come true.

Amateur Farah O'Keefe Taking Full Advantage of Opportunity to Compete in The Chevron Championship

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