Pate becomes first women’s repeat winner in tournament’s six-year history
Texas to face Texas A&M in match play for men’s team championship Wednesday at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, while Wake Forest and South Carolina will play for women’s team title; Live coverage to air on GOLF Channel from 3-6 p.m. Central
FRISCO, TEXAS – For the first time in its six-year history, the Jackson T. Stephens Cup crowned co-champions in its men’s and women’s individual competitions Tuesday afternoon.
University of Texas teammates Daniel Bennett and Matt Comegys tied for the men’s individual title, while Farah O’Keefe of Texas and Wake Forest’s Macy Pate split the women’s crown at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.
Named in honor of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, the former Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, The Jackson T. Stephens Cup has hosted one the strongest fields in NCAA Division I golf annually since 2021.
Individual champions were crowned Tuesday following 54 holes of stroke play, with four men’s and four women’s teams advancing based on their team scores to an 18-hole match play tournament Wednesday to determine the team champions.
Texas and Texas A&M will battle for the men’s championship, with Rice and Utah vying for third place. Defending champion Wake Forest and South Carolina will compete for the women’s championship, with Oregon and Texas playing for bronze.
Live television coverage of the team championships will air on GOLF Channel from 3-6 p.m. CT Wednesday.
Comegys and Bennett each shot 9-under-par 207 and clashed down the stretch Tuesday afternoon. Bennett, 14th in the men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, was tied atop the leaderboard alongside Utah’s Gabriel Palacios heading into the final round, with Comegys and Rice’s Reggie Zhu lurking one stroke behind.
After a bogey to open the round, Comegys birdied three of the next six holes, then played the back nine in two-under par to take the clubhouse lead with Bennett playing behind him in the final group. Bennett birdied 15 to stay in contention, then drained an eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th to match his teammate’s score.
“I was definitely watching the leaderboard the last nine holes to see where Matt was,” admitted Bennett, a junior from South Africa. “I saw a lot of red numbers, so I knew what I had to do coming down the stretch. I saw that he made par on 18, so I had a chance. I hit a nice wedge and made the putt.”
Neither player had won a collegiate event before the Jackson T. Stephens Cup.
“To get it done close to home is really special, and it feels really nice to push through the finish line and do it with my teammate,” said Comegys, a graduate student from Plano, Texas.
On the women’s side, Pate entered Tuesday trailing leader Molly McLean of South Carolina by a stroke, while O’Keefe sat in third three shots behind Pate.
O’Keefe, third in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking and the 2026 NCAA individual champion, played her opening nine in two-under par before a double bogey on the first hole (her 10th) nearly derailed her day. Birdies on seven and eight steered her back into contention.
Pate, meanwhile, was one-over par on the front nine, then recovered from a bogey on 14 with a par on the 16th. She had a seven-footer on 18 for birdie to win outright, and the putt looked like it would drop before coming to rest just millimeters left of the cup.
The women’s winners each shot 4-under-par 212 over three rounds.
“Last week at The Annika, I played really well and just never got the putter hot, so coming in yesterday I knew I needed to do the same thing and give myself opportunities,” Pate said. “I went out in five-under yesterday morning and was feeling good about my game. (This tournament) always puts us on some tough golf courses, and that makes me feel confident because I can just focus on my ball striking.”
Pate, a senior from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, became the first women’s two-time winner in the tournament’s six-year history. Her victory at the JTS Cup last year was her first collegiate win.
“I was patient and didn’t really force anything,” said O’Keefe, a senior from Austin. “It’s always my goal to find something to work on in a tournament, and that was it this week. Last year was really awesome, and all the accolades were icing on the cake. I focus on the things I can control, which are my work ethic, focus, and body language.”
The men’s field for the sixth-annual Jackson T. Stephens Cup included Texas, Texas A&M, Houston, Rice, SMU and Utah. The women’s field featured 2026 NCAA champion Stanford, defending JTS Cup champion Wake Forest, Florida State, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas.
Invitations were also extended to 12 individual golfers from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and United States Service Academies. Competing in the men’s stroke play division were Sascha Robinson (Florida A&M University), Bear Huff (Howard University), Francisco Perez (Howard University), Danny Auffant (United States Naval Academy), Eli Huntington (United States Air Force Academy) and Tyson Sparks (United States Military Academy). The individuals featured in the women’s stroke play competition were Emma Tang (United States Naval Academy), Nevaeh Figueroa (Prairie View A&M University), Micaiah Joubert (Jackson State University), Lena Durette (Howard University), Alexis Goboy (Howard University) and Vivian Cressman (United States Naval Academy).
About The Jackson T. Stephens Cup
The Jackson T. Stephens Cup (JTS Cup) is an annual collegiate golf tournament honoring the legacy of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, former Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and a lifelong advocate for the game of golf. Established in 2021 by Warren A. Stephens, Jack’s son, the premier three-day event features a combination of stroke play and match play, showcasing NCAA Division I men’s and women’s teams that contend for national championships, along with standout individuals from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and U.S. military service academies.
The Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas, serves as the tournament’s home course, with the event also rotating among other prestigious venues across the country.
For more information, visit www.jacksontstephenscup.com or follow the tournament on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook.
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The post University of Texas teammates Daniel Bennett and Matt Comegys share men’s individual title, Longhorns’ Farah O’Keefe and Wake Forest’s Macy Pate split women’s championship at 2026 Jackson T. Stephens Cup appeared first on The Golf Wire.