Romero's Historic Round Powers Ducks Into 36-Hole Lead

[Charles Fischer]

Romero's Historic Round Powers Ducks Into 36-Hole Lead

 

GOLD CANYON, Ariz. - Sophomore Kiara Romero fired the lowest round in Oregon women's golf history on Tuesday in the second round of the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional, carding a 10-under 62 to surge into the individual lead and move the No. 5 Ducks into the team lead after 36 holes at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club. 

 

Oregon will enter Wednesday's final round at 5-under par for the tournament, four strokes ahead of second-place Oklahoma State (-1). The Ducks are 23 strokes up on No. 17 Auburn for fifth place and 25 shots clear of sixth-place Cal State Fullerton, with the top five teams after Wednesday advancing to the 2025 NCAA Championships (May 16-21) in Carlsbad, Calif.

 

Romero made an incredible 11 birdies against just one bogey en route to a 10-under 62, besting the previous program record of 9-under 63 set by Cathleen Santoso in 2013-14. She also set a new course record at Superstition Mountain, breaking the previous record of 63. 

 

The 2025 Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Year, Romero will enter the final round with a four-stroke lead over Arizona State's Patience Rhodes (-8) in the individual race. 

 

"Just an unbelievable day today for Kiara," head coach Derek Radley. "To shoot the lowest round in program history and a course record in an NCAA Regional is truly amazing. That was one of the single greatest individual rounds I've ever seen, and we needed it. She really carried us today and put us in great position going into the final round."

 

The Ducks are looking to advance to the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in program history and fourth time in the last five years. A win in Gold Canyon would be the second NCAA Regional victory in program history, joining the 2021-22 team that won the Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA Albuquerque Regional before going on to finish as the national runners-up. 

 

"It's important that we stay aggressive and don't get complacent," Radley said. "We need to keep our foot on the gas and go out and finish this thing strong tomorrow. I'm excited to see what the final round has in store for the Ducks."

 

How it Happened: The Ducks opened the second round on the back nine and Romero got off to a sizzling start with three consecutive birdies. After a par at No. 13, she ripped off three more birdies in a row to get to 6 under through just seven holes. Romero would make par on No. 17 and No. 18 to make the turn at 6 under, quickly seizing the individual lead after starting the day one stroke back of the leaders.

 

A birdie at No. 2 got Romero to 7 under, and she quickly bounced back from her lone bogey of the day at No. 3 with back-to-back birdies at holes 4 and 5. Romero added another birdie at No. 7 to get to 9 under, putting her in position to tie the program record, before sticking her approach shot tight on No. 9 and tapping in for birdie to set new UO and course records. 

 

Romero's 11 birdies in Tuesday's round alone are more than any other player in the field has made through 36 holes this week, and her 15 total birdies for the tournament are six more than any other player. Romero has also been the top player in the field in par-3 (-3) and par-4 (-6) scoring.

 

Freshman Tong An shot par-or-better for the third straight round, making three birdies and three bogeys for an even-par 72. She gives the Ducks two players in the top 10 in a tie for eighth at 1 under after carding a 1-under 71 on Monday.

 

Freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham came in with a 1-over 73 and sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang rounded out the counting scores with a 3-over 75.

 

Team Leaderboard (top five advance to NCAA Championships):

1. #5 Oregon — 289-282 — 571 (-5)

2. Oklahoma State — 287-288 — 575 (-1)

3. #8 Arizona State — 286-290 — 576 (E)

4. #20 Mississippi State — 291-294 — 585 (+9)

5. #17 Auburn — 289-305 — 594 (+18)

6. Cal State Fullerton — 304-292 — 596 (+20)

7. California — 303-296 — 599 (+23)

8. San Jose State — 306-295 — 601 (+25)

9. Sacramento State — 307-298 — 605 (+29)

10. Virginia Tech — 304-306 — 610 (+34)

11. Navy — 299-313 — 612 (+36)

12. Quinnipiac — 322-313 — 635 (+59)

 

Ducks on the Leaderboard:

1. Kiara Romero — 70-62 — 132 (-12)

T8. Tong An — 71-72 — 143 (-1)

T17. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham — 74-73 — 147 (+3)

T24. Ting-Hsuan Huang — 74-75 — 149 (+5)

64. Darae Chung — 79-85 — 164 (+20)

 

Notable: Romero has now shot par-or-better in 16 of 17 rounds this spring, going sub-70 in 12 of those rounds ... Romero leads the Ducks this season with 22 par-or-better rounds and 14 sub-70 performances ... Romero's 15 birdies through two rounds gives her 117 on the season, just one shy of the UO single-season record of 118 she set as a freshman in 2023-24.

 

Up Next: The third and final round of the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional will begin at 8:00 a.m. PT on Wednesday, with the top five teams at the end of the round punching tickets to the NCAA Championships. 

 

[30Duck]

On 5/6/2025 at 3:44 PM, Charles Fischer said:

Team Leaderboard (top five advance to NCAA Championships):

1. #5 Oregon — 289-282 — 571 (-5)

2. Oklahoma State — 287-288 — 575 (-1)

3. #8 Arizona State — 286-290 — 576 (E)

4. #20 Mississippi State — 291-294 — 585 (+9)

5. #17 Auburn — 289-305 — 594 (+18)

6. Cal State Fullerton — 304-292 — 596 (+20)

7. California — 303-296 — 599 (+23)

8. San Jose State — 306-295 — 601 (+25)

9. Sacramento State — 307-298 — 605 (+29)

10. Virginia Tech — 304-306 — 610 (+34)

11. Navy — 299-313 — 612 (+36)

12. Quinnipiac — 322-313 — 635 (+59)

Okay, looks like Women's Golf is not big in the B1G. 

[Charles Fischer]

Of the six B1G championships won by Oregon thus far...four of them are womens sports. C'mon Baseball!