Division II Golfer, U.S. Women’s Am Qualifier Mulcahy Relishing Underdog Status

In this era of the transfer portal, and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals that have turned college athletics into a form of free agency, Mary Kelly Mulcahy is an anomaly.

Especially when you are the NCAA Division II Player of the Year, the Female Athlete of the Year for an entire conference (Great Midwest Athletic Conference) and school (University of Findlay), are the first person in Palmer Cup history to post a perfect 4-0 match-play record from a non-Division I institution, Monday-qualify for an LPGA Tour event (Dana Open) an hour from your northwest Ohio residence, and play well enough to qualify for the 124th U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship at historic Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

“I do get this question all the time,” said the 22-year-old Mulcahy, a rising senior at Findlay who doesn’t have any NIL deals. “Even the girls on the [U.S.] Palmer Cup Team were saying, You would be so stupid if you didn’t go into the transfer portal.”

But while most in Mulcahy’s situation would follow such a path, that’s not in her DNA. There’s something to be said for loyalty, and Mulcahy, who established a program and conference record for single-season scoring average (71.20) during a remarkable seven-victory junior campaign at the small private Catholic university 34 miles northeast from her hometown of Lima, Ohio, has found a comfortable home at Findlay.

Lightly recruited out of Lima Central Catholic, Mulcahy had some Division I offers from mid-major programs in the Midwest, including Bowling Green, Dayton and Butler. But the chance to play with twin sister Erin close to home was appealing enough for her to sign with Findlay, a Division II stronghold that won an NCAA title in Mulcahy’s freshman campaign in 2021-22. Plus, her father, Steve, a longtime PGA of America professional who has been the head pro the last 24 years at Shawnee Country Club in Lima, has been a volunteer assistant for both the men’s and women’s programs, and in the 2024-25 season, he’ll be the women’s assistant coach.

Great facilities that include an indoor range for the cold Ohio winters, a friendly environment where everyone within the athletic department supports each other, and a tradition of winning has been more than enough to keep the finance major grounded at Findlay. When Mulcahy played in the Dana Open in mid-July more than 50 people made the short drive to High Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania. That close-knit community – Findlay has an undergraduate enrollment of just under 4,000 – is something Mulcahy might not get at a major Division I school.

On the course, Mulcahy’s junior season was nothing short of remarkable. The only thing that was missing was a NCAA individual and team championship – teammate and graduating senior Gabby Woods was the medalist and Findlay lost in the semifinals of the team match play – but she garnered the rest of the accolades, including the one non-Division I spot on the U.S. Palmer Cup Team. That spot is voted upon by a committee of coaches.

The Ryder Cup-style event, contested this July at Lahinch in the Republic of Ireland, featured 24 of the best American collegians (12 men and 12 women) against an International Team that included 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Wenyi Ding (Arizona State), 2023 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball champion Sampson Zheng (Cal), two-time Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cupper Hannah Darling (South Carolina), 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champ Lottie Woad (Florida State) and 2024 NCAA Division I champion Adela Cernousek (Texas A&M). The U.S. featured a star-studded group that included 2023 Walker Cuppers Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt), David Ford (North Carolina), Ben James (Virginia) and Preston Summerhays (Arizona State), and past and current Curtis Cuppers Megha Ganne (Stanford), Zoe Campos (UCLA), Catherine Park (USC) and Rachel Kuehn (Wake Forest), along with 2023 U.S. Girls’ Junior champ Kiara Romero (Oregon), and All-Americans Brendan Valdes (Auburn), Jackson Koivun (Auburn), Amanda Sambach (Virginia), Maisie Filler (Florida), Anna Davis (Auburn) and Farah O’Keefe (Texas).

Mulcahy and Jackson Klutznick (Emory) were the two Division II selections.

“I had never met any of them until that week,” said Mulcahy. “We roomed together for five nights. They were all really welcoming.

“I was a little [intimidated at the outset]. When I saw [then-world No. 1] Gordon Sargent, I was a little starstruck. I had to take a step back and tell myself we’re all on the same team.”

Paired with Vanderbilt’s Jackson Van Paris for mixed foursomes and mixed fourballs, and O’Keefe in foursomes, Mulcahy won three points for the Americans. Then in singles, she took down Ireland’s Katie Lanigan, 2 and 1, to become just the fifth U.S. player – and first from a non-Division I program – to achieve the feat of winning all four points. That list includes past USA Curtis Cuppers Amari Avery and Emilia Migliaccio, and 2023 Walker Cupper Nick Gabrelcik. The singles win helped the Americans to a five-point victory and the first on foreign soil since 2018.

When Mulcahy walked off the 17th green that Sunday in Ireland, teammates were yelling “MVP! MVP!” The outlier had shown the big boys that a kid from a small Ohio Division II could handle herself quite nicely.

“It was a special opportunity for her to see where she is with her game,” said Steve Mulcahy. “And she fit right in. That was great.”

Findlay coach Dominic Guarnieri, who will serve as Mulcahy’s caddie at Southern Hills, told the GMAC website, “What impressed me most about her was how she handled herself in pressure situations. Nothing fazes her and that is why she was there. She got down in multiple matches…but she did what we always about…stay patient and committed. She gave herself the best chance to succeed.”

So how did this transformation take place?

Mulcahy had always been around the game because of her father. Steve Mulcahy played collegiately at the University of Toledo and moved to Florida after graduation to give pro golf a try, first on mini-tours and later the Hooters and Nike (now Korn Ferry) tours, the latter with conditional status. He eventually realized competitive golf was not a viable career and got into the teaching arm of the game. He worked at Canterbury outside of Cleveland before taking the head job at Shawnee C.C.

In the Northwest Ohio PGA Section, he’s won some 30 events and was recognized as the 2010 Northwest Ohio Teacher of the Year. He also has made Golf Digest magazine’s list of the game’s “Best Teachers in the State of Ohio” for the past 20 years, ranking No. 1 eight times.

His oldest and youngest daughters, Meghan and Bridget, never gravitated to the game, but twins Mary Kelly and Erin found a passion as teenagers. Each summer, Steve would focus on different aspects, from the short game to putting to swing mechanics.

“I would say Mary Kelly from two years ago to now, her pitching, chipping, bunker play and putting took a whole other jump,” said Steve. “She’s always been a pretty good ball striker. Statistically, she hits a lot of fairways and greens. She has average length. Her ability to score the ball inside of 50 yards and on the green has probably been the most significant jump in the last year.”

Of course, winning seven times will give a golfer at any level supreme confidence. And that’s something no instructor can teach. It’s an earned trait, something Mulcahy says probably wouldn’t have happened if she transferred to a major Division I program.

Qualifying for her first LPGA event close to home was just another jump in her maturation. That week outside of Toledo, she hit balls next to Lexi Thompson, played a practice round with Auston Kim and Maria Fassi, and was paired with 2013 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion, Gabriela Then, and past LPGA Tour winner/current Florida Atlantic women’s golf coach Heather Bowie-Young. A pair of 74s led to a missed cut, but Mulcahy soaked up every bit of the experience, which included younger sis Bridget on the bag.

“A year ago, if I was telling someone that [I was hitting balls next to Thompson], I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Mulcahy. “They treated [me] so well. It was an awesome experience.”

One she’ll use for her next major competition, the U.S. Women’s Amateur. It will be the first USGA championship for anyone in the Mulcahy family; Steve tried several times as an amateur and pro. Neither Mary Kelly or Steve has ever been to Southern Hills, site of three U.S. Opens and five PGA Championships, including the 2007 edition won by Tiger Woods. Mulcahy will have some friendly faces in the field, including several of her Palmer Cup teammates, and three players from the 2023-24 Findlay team, the aforementioned Gabby Woods and rising sophomore Ashleigh Duflo, who like Mulcahy qualified for the event. Woods became exempt by virtue of winning the 2024 Ohio Women’s Amateur (Mulcahy lost in the quarterfinals).

While the field is loaded with top players from around the world, don’t expect Mulcahy to be fazed by the moment.

“Mentally, I’ve gained a lot of confidence,” she said. “Over the school golf season, I focused on believing in myself. I always say going to the first tee, I’ve done all the preparation I can and now go out there and enjoy it. My confidence came from preparing the right way. Obviously, this summer I had a pretty successful time at the Palmer Cup, which built my confidence even more. I’m doing the right thing and it’s paying off.

“I’m excited to get there and then try to make a run and see how well I can do. I know that I am preparing the best that I can so that will set myself up for success.”

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