Farah O’Keefe recovered from one down with one hole to play to beat fellow American Kacey Ly at the first extra hole and advance to the last 32 of The Women’s Amateur Championship at Muirfield on Wednesday. Defending champion Paula Martín Sampedro was knocked out on the same day, losing in extra holes to Canada’s Ann-Sophie Bourgault in a breezy first round of match play at the East Lothian venue.

The 21-year-old O’Keefe, ranked third in the world, is now the highest-ranked player remaining in the 123rd edition of the championship. She was last year’s beaten finalist, losing 2&1 to Martín Sampedro in the final at Nairn.

O’Keefe Holds On

O’Keefe’s match against Ly went to extra holes. Trailing after the 17th, she made par at the last to extend play, then watched Ly find a bunker off the tee at Muirfield’s 1st hole. O’Keefe closed it out with another par.

The result extended a run of form that stretches back to the Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club earlier this month, where O’Keefe won all five of her matches in the USA’s victory over Great Britain and Ireland. She became only the fourth player in Curtis Cup history to manage that feat.

“I do feel like I held it together. Mentally I was super, super strong. So that’s the key to match play. That’s the key to any kind of winning golf, having a strong mental game. No matter how you hit the ball, as long as you’re good between the ears most of the time you’ll be pretty well off.”

On her motivation to improve on last year’s finish, she said: “The desire, the want to finish one better is definitely there. I’ve played a ridiculous amount of golf in the last two to three months. I’m just trying to make sure that physically I’m ready to go. I know I’m capable of it, there’s no question there.”

Defending Champion Falls

Martín Sampedro’s title defence also ended in extra holes. Bourgault, who had come through a play-off at 9.30pm the night before just to reach match play, took the Spaniard to an extra hole. Martín Sampedro pulled her tee shot and could not recover, and Bourgault holed from five feet for par to seal the upset.

“I would say that this is probably one of my biggest accomplishments so far,” Bourgault said. “I’ve never played such a big tournament in match play format before. Yesterday I was going into a play-off to get into match play so the whole thing has been a battle.”

Upsets Across the Draw

The breeze contributed to further surprises. Rianne Malixi, one of the leading qualifiers, lost 3&2 to Spain’s Cayetena Fernandez.

France’s Camille Min Gaultier was the first player into the last 32, beating leading stroke-play qualifier Lily Hirst 6&5, wrapping up the match on the 13th hole. Min Gaultier had also come through a play-off the previous evening, finishing at 9.30pm, yet showed no apparent fatigue in the morning’s opening match.

“I had trouble falling asleep because I was still stressed from the play-off but I had a good night and I was ready to go this morning,” Min Gaultier said. “I adjusted very well with the wind so it was a pretty good day.”

Hirst, despite the defeat, earned the Doris Chambers Trophy for leading stroke-play qualifier after completing her two qualifying rounds in six-under-par.

Belgium’s Savannah De Bock drew on her experience of competing at Muirfield in the AIG Women’s Open four years ago to beat American Ina Kim-Schaad 3&2. “I got to play here four years ago and that’s definitely helping,” De Bock said. “Especially now that the wind is picking up a bit, I can really rely on what I’ve done in the past to see how it’s going to react.”

GB&I Curtis Cup players Patience Rhodes and Sophia Fullbrook, who each earned four points at Bel-Air, also progressed, as did Scotland’s Sheridan Clancy.

What’s Next

The field is now down to 32 at Muirfield, with the championship running through to Saturday’s 36-hole final. Spectators can attend free of charge. The R&A will provide live-stream coverage of the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final on R&ATV and YouTube, with Sky Sports also broadcasting.