Kiara Romero knows she’s done something special when her Oregon coach, Derek Radley, laughs out loud.
“I can’t hold back,” he explained.
Like the time Romero found herself in the right fairway bunker on the fifth hole at Erin Hills, with her ball on the downslope of a big lip, and the pin tucked behind a front bunker 183 yards out.
Romero told her coach, who was on the bag at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, that she was going to rip a 5-iron into the wind.
“I was like, what?” recalled Radley. “Kiara Romero is the only one in women’s golf that can hit 5-iron off this downslope, over that lip and over that hill and cover that front left bunker.”
The ball released 10 feet behind the pin. Radley told her parents, who were the only ones out that early in the morning
on a Sunday, that it might have been the best shot he’d ever seen up close.
Romero shot 67 that day, setting a record for lowest final-round score at the U.S. Women’s Open. One year later, she earned low amateur honors at the Women’s Open after a closing 68 at Riviera Country Club, taking a share of sixth and a picture with her favorite player, Nelly Korda, whom she’d met earlier in the week during a practice round.
“I feel like her vibe out there was super light,” said Romero of the world No. 1. “She wasn't too serious, which I kind of relate to.”
This week, after a celebrated amateur career that includes back-to-back McCormack Medals, Romero begins the next chapter as an LPGA professional at the CPKC Women's Open in Alberta, Canada. The McCormack Medal, given to the world's top-ranked amateur, gave her the 20 points needed to become the second graduate of the LPGA’s LEAP program, joining two-time LPGA winner Lottie Woad. She will forgo her senior season at Oregon.
"It feels like I've honestly been on tour for the entire summer," said Romero, who has played in five LPGA events since June.
She's been dreaming about this life since age 8. At her first LPGA event as a fan, the ANA Inspiration, Michelle Wie gave her a golf ball. From the start, the vision of tour life included older sister Kaleiya, a Pepperdine graduate who is currently No. 2 on the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card and well on her way to joining Kiara on the LPGA full-time next year.
Younger brother Kyreece, who played golf at Oregon with Kiara, will finish school online and caddie full-time for Kiara on tour. A head-to-toe Nike athlete, Kiara will continue to be managed by Excel Sports and also represent Titleist and Old National Bank. The Californian plans to live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, from September to April.
The Romero siblings, like the Kordas, are extremely close. They grew up outside, with no wifi or cell phones to distract. At the heart of it all, they liked to play.
“When I go to tournaments and I have a bad round, you won't see me, like, on the range after trying to fix my swing,” said Romero. “I feel like I'm at the point with my game, where if I have a bad round, it's mostly mental. And so obviously, that does seep into the mechanics. But I think just kind of resetting the mind and starting over and going to the next day, like, with a fresh mind, always helps with me.”
Romero had several opportunities to earn that last LEAP point at LPGA events this summer and couldn’t get it done, missing the cut in her last four LPGA starts. Radley likened the experience to rookies on tour efforting to make a cut rather than win a tournament.
“In a lot of ways, it was almost like a free trial run for her,” said Radley.
Like Korda, Romero has an enviable swing, one that the only coach she’s ever had since high school – Jon Horner – told her not to let anyone change.
Ball-striking has long been her strength. In college, she became more mature and well-rounded.
“Everyone knows you can hit 4-irons to the moon,” Radley would tell her, “go work on your wedges.”
Romero’s Curtis Cup teammate, Farah O’Keefe, marveled at her athleticism.
“I don't know, she's just cool,” said O’Keefe, "and you want to talk about peak athletes, like, that's a peak athlete. She's literally built like a wide receiver. I mean, she could go catch a pass from Matthew Stafford right now, no problem, you know? But she plays golf.”
The Romeros were gifted their first set of golf clubs by their grandparents and became regulars at the par-3 course near their house in San Jose, California, Santa Teresa, because they could pay $5 and play every day. Neither of their parents play.
“I think I loved the challenge,” said Kiara. “I feel like a lot of pros, even the best in the world, they always say, no one perfects this game. Like, it's quite impossible to perfect it. And so, every day is a new day. You can have, like, one of the worst days, and the next, it'll be one of the best, and honestly, I just love it. It never gets boring out there.”
Added sister Kaleiya: “Starting out on our own and, helping each other out, like, we were all we had, really. And so that, I think, kind of helped us love the game on our own, and it was never forced on us.”
Enjoy the swing of the No. 1 amateur in the world, Kiara Romero, off the first tee at Riviera. 💯 pic.twitter.com/RtzmXjo9rJ
— Beth Ann Nichols (@GolfweekNichols) June 1, 2026
Ask Kiara how she has grown in college and she’ll point to her faith. There was a time when she put too much pressure on herself, but she has grown to believe that introducing a couple more people to Jesus is more important to her than winning a golf tournament.
Her siblings are on a similar path. Kyreece was baptized in a river in Eugene earlier this year and both sisters were there to support. Kiara was a leader at Oregon’s FCA chapter.
Rick Romero, a chiropractor who once chased a dream of playing professional baseball, loves that his kids aren’t one-dimensional. Kiara plays the ukulele a bit and is learning to play the guitar. She likes to hunt and fish with her brother and has a lot of friends.
“I've seen too many kids get destroyed by parents who just golf, golf, golf, you know, and we were never those parents,” said Rick. “I just wouldn’t do that.”
Romero was the first three-time first-team All-American in Oregon history. She owns the program record with six individual wins and seven runner-up showings. The 20-year-old fast-tracked high school to enroll in Eugene a full year early at age 17.
Heading to the airport for that first event in the fall of 2023, Radley recalled collecting the team’s IDs at the airport.
“She’s like ‘Coach, I don’t have an ID, I just travel as a minor,’ ” said Radley. “I’m like, what, that works. So we checked in, and we show up to the tournament and she wins the Annika [Intercollegiate], her first college event.”
Now it’s time for another new chapter, and with her LPGA status secured, perhaps another fast start.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Kiara Romero set to make pro debut this week in Canada as LPGA member
