Kiara Romero made a statement. Texas junior Farah O’Keefe had dominated college golf the last month, winning three of her past four starts and making her case for the Annika Award, given to the women’s Player of the Year.
Through 36 holes at the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Romero and O’Keefe were tied for the lead atop a stacked field.
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In the end, Romero pulled away for one of the biggest wins of her collegiate career.
“It honestly feels great to get a win,” she said. “I remember last year we played out here and I ended up getting second by one shot. So I kind of came out here with a bit of a redemption mindset and I was glad I was able to get it done. “
The junior at Oregon, and top-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, shot 3-under 67 to pull away from the field and win medalist honors at Colonial. She beat O’Keefe by six shots in the final round to win for the second time this season and won overall by five shots.
Texas’ Lauren Kim finished solo second at 1 under, the only other player to finish under par. Duke’s Rianne Malixi and Stanford’s Kelly Xu, Meja Ortengren and Paula Martin Sampedro also tied with O’Keefe at even-par after 54 holes.
Stanford won the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Invitational.
In the team competition, No. 1 Stanford once again took home the team title, finishing at 8 over to top Duke by three shots. The Cardinal were without U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megha Ganne, but its depth showed once again for its fifth win of the season. Duke and Wake Forest tied for third while Texas came in fifth.
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“At the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Invitational, the nation’s top college programs come together to compete, inspire, and show where the future of women’s golf is headed,” said Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster.
Charles Schwab confirms commitment to women’s sports
Charles Schwab has been the event’s title sponsor since 2024. Here in 2026, this commitment simply reinforces the company’s long-standing commitment to the women’s golf and to expanding opportunity in women’s sports.
“Investing in collegiate women’s golf is really important to us because it’s all about women owning their tomorrow,” Wurster said. “The level of commitment it takes to be a high-level Division I golfer like these women is incredible, and the commitment they make, the dedication they have to their pursuit is impressive.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate is a premiere event in college golf
