Women's Golf Enters National Championship Match-Play as No. 2 Seed!

[Charles Fischer]

Ducks Advance To NCAA Match Play As No. 2 Seed

 

CARLSBAD, Calif. – For the second year in a row and third time since 2022, Oregon has advanced through stroke play and will compete in match play at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships.

 

Behind a stellar 7-under 65 from Big Ten Golfer of the Year Kiara Romero, the No. 5 Ducks tied for the best score of Monday’s final round of stroke play with a 4-under 284 to earn the No. 2 seed in Tuesday’s match-play quarterfinals at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

 

Oregon will face No. 7 seed Texas beginning at 7:40 a.m. PT, with the winner moving on to play either No. 3 seed Northwestern or No. 6 seed Arkansas in the semifinals later in the day.

 

Oregon finished four rounds of stroke play at 6-under par, second only to top-ranked Stanford (-27) and eight strokes better than Northwestern for third. The Ducks will aim to reach the NCAA semifinals once again after winning their quarterfinal match against LSU a year ago at Omni La Costa.

 

“Very thankful for the opportunity to return to match play,” head coach Derek Radley said. “Just extremely proud to finish with that second seed after stroke play in a really talented field. I saw some really great things from our team and I thought we really did a good job of sticking to our game plan."

 

“We were able to make a run to that final four last year and we’re just really excited to be back and see what we’re able to do tomorrow.”

 

Romero caught fire for the Ducks after shooting 2-over par through the first three rounds, making five birdies and an eagle to tie for the lowest individual round of the week. The national player of the year candidate flew 20 spots up the leaderboard to finish as the top Duck in a tie for eighth overall at 5-under par, breaking her own UO 72-hole scoring record from last year (-4).

 

“Kiara is really special,” Radley said. “I saw that look in her eye today. Excited to get that momentum for her going into match play and be able to use that to set the tone for the rest of our lineup.”

 

Kiara Romero

 

How it Happened: The Ducks entered the final round of stroke play in third place and six shots back of Northwestern for second. Oregon matched the first-place Cardinal with the best round of the day at 4 under, while the Wildcats carded a 10-over 298 as UO quickly separated to secure the No. 2 seed.

Romero got off to a hot start and never looked back, making par on the opening hole before carding a birdie at No. 2. A 3-wood up to the fringe on the par-5 sixth hole set up an easy up-and-down for her second birdie, and she stuck her approach shot on No. 9 before draining the birdie putt to make the turn at 3 under.

 

Fireworks ensued from there, as the sophomore chipped in for eagle at No. 10 before her approach shot on No. 11 lipped out for a potential eagle. A tap-in birdie brought her to 6 under overall and 4 under in that three-hole stretch, and she made a lengthy birdie putt at No. 14 before finishing with four consecutive pars.

 

It was the team-leading 16th sub-70 performance of the season for Romero, who shot par-or-better in three of four rounds of stroke play and has done so 26 times in 32 total rounds this season. She has now placed in the individual top 10 at the NCAA Championships in each of her first two collegiate seasons, after tying for sixth as a freshman last spring.

 

Romero was joined in the top 10 by freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham, who tied for 10th overall at 4-under par after closing with a 1-under 71. Vinijchaitham was Oregon’s most consistent performer throughout stroke play, shooting par-or-better in all four rounds and making 14 total birdies against just 10 bogeys.

 

Vinijchaitham was even through 15 holes before a terrific tee shot on the par-3 16th set up a birdie to get to 1 under, and she finished out with a pair of pars to officially seal Oregon’s spot in match play.

 

Freshman Tong An got off to a quick start with two birdies in her first five holes before finishing with a 1-over 71, and sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang rounded out the counting scores with a 3-over 75. Huang gave Oregon three players in the individual top 20, tying for 20th overall at 1 over with three rounds of par-or-better.

 

Sophomore Karen Tsuru was back in the lineup for the Ducks, carding a 4-over 76 after sitting out Sunday’s round due. Tsuru and An have both dealt with back soreness this week, with junior Anika Varma subbing in once for each and shooting even par on both Saturday and Sunday. That depth could prove critical for the Ducks as they hope to battle through 36 holes on Tuesday and advance to the national championship match on Wednesday.

 

“We’ve battled some adversity this week and it’s really been a team effort with all six of our players stepping up,” Radley said. “I’m really proud of the way Karen and AT have hung in there and Anika has done a tremendous job staying prepared. All three will be ready to go tomorrow and I know whoever is in there is going to give it their best shot.”

 

 

Ducks on the Leaderboard:

3. #5 Oregon – 288-289-285-284 – 1,146 (-6)

T8. Kiara Romero – 72-74-72-65 – 283 (-5)

T10. Suvichaya Vinijchaitham – 71-72-70-71 – 284 (-4)

T20. Ting-Hsuan Huang – 71-72-71-75 – 289 (+1)

NA. Tong An – 74-Sub-73-73 – 210 (+4)

NA. Karen Tsuru – 74-73-Sub-76 – 213 (+7)

NA. Anika Varma – Sub-72-72-Sub – 144 (E)

 

What it Means: The Ducks will need to win twice on Tuesday to advance to the NCAA national championship match for the second time in four seasons, after finishing as the runner-up to Stanford in 2022. Oregon’s trip to the semifinals last spring earned them opportunities to get valuable match-play experience in the fall, when the Ducks played in championship settings at the East Lake Cup and the Jackson T. Stephens Cup. UO has three players – Romero, Huang and Tsuru – back from that team that reached the semifinals last year.

 

Up Next: The Ducks and Longhorns will square off beginning on hole No. 1 at 7:40 a.m. Golf Channel will have live coverage of the quarterfinals from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with coverage of the semifinals from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

 

NCAA Quarterfinals - #2 Oregon vs. #7 Texas

Kiara Romero (Oregon) vs. Bohyun Park (Texas) – 7:40 a.m.

Tong An (Oregon) vs. Lauren Kim (Texas) – 7:50 a.m.

Suvichaya Vinijchaitham (Oregon) vs. Cindy Hsu (Texas) – 8:00 a.m.

Karen Tsuru (Oregon) vs. Farah O’Keefe (Texas) – 8:10 a.m.

Ting-Hsuan Huang (Oregon) vs. Angela Heo (Texas) – 8:20 a.m.