Olivia Mehaffey

Olivia Mehaffey (born 9 October 1998) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who plays on the Ladies European Tour.[1]

Personal information
Born (1998-10-09) 9 October 1998
Banbridge, Northern Ireland
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Sporting nationality Northern Ireland
ResidenceTandragee, Northern Ireland
Career
CollegeArizona State University
Turned professional2021
Current tour(s)Ladies European Tour (joined 2022)
Best results in LPGA major championships
Chevron ChampionshipT74: 2020
Women's PGA C'shipDNP
U.S. Women's OpenCUT: 2018, 2020
Women's British OpenCUT: 2016, 2017, 2020
Evian ChampionshipDNP

Amateur career

Mehaffey enjoyed a very successful amateur career and reached a rank of No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and No. 2 in the European Amateur Golf Rankings.[2]

In 2014, she won the Irish Girls U18 Open Stroke Play Championship and played in the Lalla Meryem Cup, an LET event, where she made the cut. She won the 2015 the Helen Holm Scottish Women's Open Championship, and won the Welsh Ladies Open Stroke Play Championship in both 2015 and 2016. In 2016, she also won the Irish Women's Open Stroke Play Championship and the Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship. She was a semi-finalist at the British Ladies Amateur in 2015 and finished 3rd at the 2016 European Ladies Amateur Championship.[3]

Mehaffey played in the Curtis Cup twice, and in 2016 at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club outside of Dublin helped lead the Great Britain & Ireland team to victory after going 3-1-1.[2]

In 2016, Mehaffey along with Leona Maguire and Annabel Wilson won the third place bronze medal for Ireland in the 2016 Espirito Santo Trophy held at Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club in Mexico.[4]

Mehaffey joined Arizona State University in 2016 and played with the Arizona State Sun Devils women's golf team. As a freshman in 2017, she helped ASU win the NCAA Championship by notching match-play victories in all three wins over Florida, Stanford and Northwestern (title match).[5] She won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Norman Regional back-to-back.[2] She overcame a four-stroke deficit in the final round to win the Pac-12 Championship in a playoff with Albane Valenzuela.[6] She took advantage of the NCAA granting an additional year of eligibility for spring-sport athletes due to COVID-19 cutting short the 2019-20 season.[5]

Mehaffey's amateur pedigree earned her spots in two U.S. Women's Opens and three Women's British Opens, the first the 2016 Women's British Open at Woburn Golf and Country Club when she was 18. She also competed in the 2020 ANA Inspiration, where she made her first major cut. In 2021, she finished in a share of ninth place in her second appearance at the Augusta National Women's Amateur. She started in the Arizona Women's Classic on the Symetra Tour in March, where she finished in a share of sixth place after leading the event at the half way stage.[7]

Professional career

Mehaffey turned professional after the spring semester in 2021 and made her LPGA Tour debut as a professional on home soil in Ballymena, 30 miles from Belfast, at the inaugural ISPS Handa World Invitational. She finished tied for 17th place.[8][9]

She joined the 2022 Ladies European Tour after finishing 24th at LET Q-School. The best finish in her rookie season was 9th place at the Madrid Ladies Open. She withdrew during the Skaftö Open and took the second half of the season off to process the grief after her father died of cancer.[10]

In 2023, she shot an 8-under 64 to take the lead after the first day of the Amundi German Masters, ultimately finishing in a tie for 12th.[11] Two weeks later she shot a 9-under 207 at the Ladies Finnish Open to finish in a tie for 3rd, her best professional result so far.

Amateur wins

Source:[3]

Results in LPGA majors

Results not in chronological order before 2019.

Tournament201620172018201920202021
ANA Inspiration T74
U.S. Women's Open CUT CUT
Women's PGA Championship
The Evian Championship NT
Women's British Open CUT CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
NT = no tournament
T = tied

Team appearances

Amateur

References
  1. "Big changes spell bright future for Olivia Mehaffey". Irish Golfer. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  2. "Women's Golf Roster: Olivia Mehaffey". Arizona State Athletics. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  3. "Olivia Mehaffey". World Amateur Golf Rankings. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  4. "27th Espirito Santo Trophy". IGF. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  5. "Player Bio: Olivia Mehaffey". USGA. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  6. "Olivia Mehaffey Biography". Augusta National Women's Amateur. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  7. "Olivia Mehaffey: Northern Ireland woman to turn professional later this month after NCAA Championship". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. "Wise Words From Olivia Mehaffey Ahead of Professional LPGA Tour Debut". LPGA. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  9. "Belfast, Tempe Roads Take Olivia Mehaffey Where She Belongs". LPGA. 17 August 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  10. Clerkin, Malachy (22 January 2023). "Olivia Mehaffey is finding her way back after grief brought on a breakdown". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  11. Keogh, Brian (16 June 2023). "Olivia Mehaffey fires a sensational 64 at the German Masters". The Independent. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  12. "European Ladies' Team Championship – European Golf Association". Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
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