Spain's Paula Martin Sampedro wins 2025 Women's Amateur Championship in thrilling final

USA Today

8 hours ago

Spain's Paula Martin Sampedro wins 2025 Women's Amateur Championship in thrilling final
There wasn't a lot of separation until late.
Spain's Paula Martin Sampedro and Farah O'Keefe of the United States found themselves going back and forth during the first 30 holes of the 2025 Women's Amateur Championship final match, a 36-hole marathon at Nairn in Scotland. But down the stretch as O'Keefe made a couple costly bogeys, Martin Sampedro remained steady, and the result was championship worthy.
The rising junior at Stanford, Martin Sampedro defeated O'Keefe 2 and 1 on Sunday afternoon to win the 122nd Women's Amateur Championship. She becomes the sixth winner of the tournament from Spain and first since Azahara Munoz in 2009. She had only one bogey over 35 holes played and was 8 under in the championship match, preventing O'Keefe from helping the Americans go back-to-back in the championship after not winning the title since 1996.
Neither player made a bogey through the first 18 holes, sitting at 5 under heading into the afternoon session.
Martin Sampedro, the 19-year-old who's ranked 12th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, finished the season ranked eighth in the NCAA golf rankings for the NCAA runner-up Cardinal. She went 5-1-2 in match play as a sophomore but fell in the championship match against Northwestern, her lone loss in match play of the year.
Three weeks later, she dominated on the Scottish shores, going 6-0 in match play after earning the fifth seed following 36 holes of stroke play. And on her bag for the final two matches was Paula Francisco, a lifelong friend who Martin Sampedro beat in the quarterfinals.
"I knew it was going to be super tight with Farah, she's a great player," Martin Sampedro said. "I feel like we both played super good and I'm super happy to get the win. I can't believe it right now - it will take a while to sink in.
"The golf level was great through the 35 holes, but the first 18 were amazing, bogey-free both of us. I knew it was going to come down to the last few holes, and I was lucky to have Paula by my side."
On Saturday in the final round, O'Keefe found herself 4 down with five holes to play but fought back to win in 19 holes and earn her spot in the championship match.
"If I'd been told that I was going to be losing 2&1 in the final on 13 green yesterday, I would have taken it, to use Harry Diamond's line against him -- or for my own case," O'Keefe said. "I'm not sour about it. It's a second-place finish. It's really stinking good. Honestly, I came here at the beginning of this week kind of dreading the long week because I've played four or five weeks in a row.
"So to be standing here right now, I'm proud of it and looking forward to the future."
With her victory, Martin Sampedro earns exemptions into the 2025 AIG Women's Open, 2025 Amundi Evian Championship, 2026 Chevron Championship and 2026 U.S. Women's Open. She also earns a spot in the 2026 Augusta National Women's Amateur, though she likely would've earned a spot in the field thanks to her WAGR ranking.