USA Leads 4-2 After Day 1 at Bel-Air C.C.

The Triple Crown races might be in the rearview mirror, but there are some thoroughbreds touring Bel-Air Country Club this week, namely the horses USA Curtis Cup captain Meghan Stasi decided to heavily showcase on Day 1 of the 44th Match.

These aren’t 3-year-olds. They’re polished college golf stars mixed with a junior phenom.

Coming off a disappointing one-point loss two years ago at Sunningdale Golf Club, in England, Stasi, who also captained that squad, elected to favor her stalwarts for the four-ball and foursomes sessions on a glorious early June day in Southern California.

That meant pairing the world’s top-rated amateur Kiara Romero with the hotshot 17-year-old Asterisk Talley – both fresh off making the 36-hole cut in the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at nearby Riviera Country Club – to lead off each session. It also meant using 2026 NCAA Division I individual champion and the No. 3 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking®, Farah O’Keefe, twice along with Curtis Cup returner Anna Davis and Kelly Xu, fresh off going 3-0 in match play to help Stanford win the NCAA title.  

Stasi wanted to make a statement to her Great Britain & Ireland counterparts. If you want to keep the Cup on your side of the Atlantic Ocean, beat the best in my stable.

That strategy somewhat worked, as the USA Team will take a 4-2 advantage into Saturday. Only once since the Match format changed to three days in 2008 has the USA not claimed the Cup when leading after Day 1. That happened in 2012 at Nairn Golf Club in Scotland, when GB&I rallied on Sunday for a one-point win.

The USA also has not lost on home soil since 1986 at Prairie Dunes Country Club, in Hutchinson, Kan. The sides tied in 1994 at The Honors Course, with GB&I retaining the Cup.

“I think they gelled together really well,” said USA Captain Meghan Stasi. “A couple people may need some rest. That's about it. I think no matter who I pair with who, they're all going to go out and put their heart into it and give it all they got.” 

Stasi surely was banking on two points from Talley and Romero, and when the duo played 9-under-par golf in winning their morning four-ball match, 4 and 2, over GB&I’s Lily Hirst and Davina Xanh, it looked like a 2-0 day was a distinct possibility. Two years ago, she sent Talley, then 15, out first in Sunday singles against then-world No. 1/Florida State All-American Lottie Woad. The precocious Northern California defeated the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open low amateur and 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion.

“Asterisk, she's a pace horse,” said Stasi after the USA won two of the three points in four-balls, an improvement from 2024 when it took just 1.5 of an available six points. “Love the fact she went out first, went out fast, fast and furious.”

But Talley and Romero seemingly ran out of steam in the afternoon foursomes session, as they were defeated by Beth Coulter, a returner from the 2024 Match, and Isla McDonald-O’Brien, 3 and 2. GB&I didn’t even need birdies down the stretch, winning four consecutive holes with par from No. 13 to close out their opponents.

“Really, really cool,” said Coulter, who went 1-2-1 in 2024 at Sunningdale. “Obviously, they're two of their best players. Me and Isla were eager to get out there this afternoon, not playing this morning, so we were going to use the energy to our advantage. We kept saying that to each other, like hang in there, hang in there.  

“Pars are so good on the back. We just gelled so well. It was so fun out there. We kept smiling and laughing and hitting good shots. It's fun when you win.” 

O’Keefe, however, did deliver with different partners. The University of Texas rising senior drained a 15-foot birdie on the par-4 18th hole to seal a 2-up win in morning four-balls with University of Southern California rising junior and 2024 USA Curtis Cupper Jasmine Koo. After lunch, she and Mississippi State standout Avery Weed posted a 3-and-2 victory in foursomes over Patience Rhodes and Sophia Fullbrook, the only GB&I side to garner a point on Friday morning. The 2026 ANNIKA Award recipient for being college golf’s top player now is the only USA player with a chance to post a perfect 5-0 mark, which was last achieved by Kristin Gillman in 2018. She played the par-5 first hole in 3 under, hitting an 8-iron in the morning to set up an eagle, and then her side two-putted for birdie in foursomes.

O’Keefe, who celebrated her 21st birthday last Saturday at the U.S. Women’s Open where she tied for 34th, was clutch in the afternoon as well, holing an 18-foot birdie to match GB&I on the 264-yard, par-4 12th en route to a 3-and-2, come-from-behind victory over Patience Rhodes and Sophia Fulbrook. The duo was 2 down through seven holes.

“I felt like honestly at the beginning of the week it didn't really matter who I was paired with because everybody on our team truly gets along,” said O’Keefe. “Like there's not one person that's not enjoying themselves this week. 

“We were talking about it the other night, and it's just like everybody on our team has a fantastic sense of humor. They don't take themselves too seriously, which I think is kind of important. But at the same time, we're all really, really good at what we do, and I think we put a lot of effort and time into our craft so that, when it comes time to perform, it's there.”  

Davis, a left-hander who grew up in Greater San Diego and is a rising senior, avenged her morning four-ball loss with partner Xu, who is from Claremont in the San Gabriel Valley area of Greater Los Angeles. The duo nearly rallied from a 5-down deficit in a 2-and-1 defeat to Rhodes and Fullbrook, the two highest-ranked GB&I players at Nos. 20 and 38, respectively, in the WAGR ®.

But in the afternoon foursomes against Ohio State rising junior Nellie Ong and incoming Alabama freshman Charlotte Naughton, the duo turned what looked to be a loss on the par-5 eighth when Davis sent her second shot into the native area short and left of the green, into a winning par. Two holes later, Xu shanked a 3-wood that barely cleared the cavernous ravine that divides the teeing ground and the fairway/green complex on the 196-yard, par-3. Players take an elevator to the tee and then walk across a swinging bridge.

Fortunately, Xu’s ball ended up on the other side and Davis, a quarterfinalist in the 2023 U.S. Women’s Amateur held here in 2023, hit a gorgeous recovery to 4 feet to set up a par that won the hole. The duo won the next two holes as well in posting a 4-and-3 win.

Xu could only laugh about the tee shot when talking to the media. 

“I was really hoping nobody was going to ask about that,” said Xu. “I was even joking to my [Stanford] assistant coach [Brooke Riley] after the round like I've never cold shanked it in like my Stanford career. I'm not someone who cold shanks shots. 

“That 10th hole, you're looking up … and you have this wood in your hand and you're so dialed into which side of the green do I want to come at this from that you forget you're swinging a wood to an elevated green. So when it came off the face, I was like, oh, my gosh, there goes the hole; like I surprised myself. I didn't know what happened.” 

If the Americans get to Sunday with a lead, look out. In the last two Curtis Cups played on home soil in 2018 (Quaker Ridge) and 2022 (Merion), the USA has won 15 of the available 16 points.

That’s like Secretariat pulling away at the Belmont.

What’s Next 

Day 2 at the Curtis Cup on Saturday will once again feature three four-ball matches starting at 8:30 a.m. PDT and afternoon foursomes following lunch. All eight competitors from each side will compete in singles on Sunday. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Notable 

• Fifteen of the 16 competitors saw action on Day 1. Recent Ohio State graduate Kary Hollenbaugh was held out of both sessions. Avery Weed sat out the morning four-balls, while Jasmine Koo did not play on Friday afternoon. For GB&I, Beth Coulter and Isla McDonald-O’Brien did not play Friday morning, while Lily Hirst and Davina Xanh sat out the afternoon foursomes session. 
  
  
• Greg Puga isn’t the only Bel-Air caddie working the Curtis Cup Match who has competed in a USGA championship. Aaron Lee, who played at Ventura College and has worked at the club since 2017, qualified for the 2019 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Colorado Golf Club. Lee, who on the bag of the USA’s Avery Weed, has a fascinating back story that you can read here. Puga, on the bag of the USA’s Kiara Romero, the low amateur in last week’s U.S. Women’s Open, claimed the 2000 U.S. Mid-Amateur and competed in the 2001 Masters. 
  
  
• The Curtis Cup is one of the special events that always brings back past competitors for a week of camaraderie, a little golf and reminiscing about the past.  This week, more than 25 USA Curtis Cup alums are on the property to support the 2026 team. That list includes 12-time competitor Carol Semple Thompson, who memorably holed the winning putt in 2002 at Fox Chapel, not far from her Sewickley, Pa., residence. Other player/captains this week include 2026 Bob Jones Award winner Ellen Port, Virginia Derby Grimes, Martha Lang, Pat Cornett and Noreen Mohler. Other notable past players include Golf Channel’s Emilia (Migliaccio) Doran and Paige Mackenzie, USNDP assistant coach Tiffany Joh, Amy Fruhwirth, Bel-Air ambassador Michelle Wie West, Ally Ewing (husband Charlie coaches Avery Weed at Mississippi State), USC assistant coach Bethany Wu, USGA Executive Committee member Brenda Corrie Kuehn, Texas coach Laura Ianello, and inaugural U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Cindy (Scholfield) McConnell, who grew up at nearby Los Angeles Country Club before playing at UCLA. 
  
  
• Southern California Golf Association Executive Director Jeff Ninneman served as the first-tee starter. USGA president Kevin Hammer will start the players on Saturday afternoon. 
  
  
• A moment of silence was held at the Flag-Raising Ceremony on Thursday evening for Judy Bell, the USGA’s first female president and two-time Curtis Cup competitor who died this past November. Bell also captained the 1986 and 1988 Curtis Cup Teams and the World Golf Hall of Fame inductee was the recipient of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award in 2016. 
  
  
• Recently retired USGA president Fred Perpall took in the action on Friday. 

Quotable 

“I would say, if we can go out there, try and get off to quick starts and just try and win both sessions tomorrow.” – GB&I captain Catriona Matthew on the mindset for Saturday 

“Obviously, not what we were wanting, but we got two good wins, one in the morning and one in the afternoon from Beth [Coulter] and Isla [McDonald-O’Brien. There was some great golf out there. I thought our team really fought well, hung in well. And they fought [until] the end. There were no real big blowouts, which it could have been.” -- Matthew 

“It's great fun, isn't it? As you say, it's perfect weather, crowds are out, and we're having fun. This is what they came here to do.” – Matthew

“We were kind of planning it during some of those practice rounds. Like Avery [Weed] and I were like, okay, we need to come up with something to do like when something goes our way. I don't know, it just kept happening today. So it was cool. Same thing with Jasmine [Koo] in the morning, we were on the putting green, and she was like, we should make a handshake. I was like, okay, so we made a handshake in like three seconds, and we just kept doing that through the rest of the round. I don't know, it's cool.” – Farah O’Keefe on celebratory handshakes  

“No, I was excited. It's great to be able to play two of the best in the game right now. It was great fun. And doing it with Beth by my side is great.” – Isla McDonald-O’Brien on pairing with Beth Coulter in beating world No. 1 Kiara Romero and world No. 7 Asterisk Talley in foursomes  

“I think for sure I love the team environment. I love playing for something bigger than myself. [That] is always super meaningful to me. Especially in this case, it's like for your country, so it's really easy to get behind that and really put everything you have towards that.” – Kelly Xu

“We've got a lot of good momentum right now. I think just kind of doing what we're doing, hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens…Just keep applying pressure, that's all we can do.” – Anna Davis  

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.