Tuesday, February 24
Humble, Texas
All Day
University of Oregon
vs
Chevron Collegiate
Romero Breaks Program Record With Fifth Career Win
02/24/26 | Women's Golf
HUMBLE, Texas – Another Oregon women's golf record belongs to Kiara Romero after the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world captured her fifth career tournament win at the Chevron Collegiate on Tuesday at the Golf Club at Houston. Romero's dominance powered the No. 3 Ducks to a second-place finish in the 17-team field.
After entering Tuesday's final round with a one-shot lead, Romero fired a 3-under 69 to win individual medalist honors by four strokes at 11-under par for the week. Romero earned her first win of the season and broke a tie with Kendra Little (2008-11) for the most individual wins in program history.
"Kiara showed again this week why she's the best player in college golf and the top-ranked amateur in the world," head coach Derek Radley said. "She was locked in from the start and navigated this golf course beautifully. It was awesome to see her get another win and super special for her to break yet another program record. The legacy she is leaving here at Oregon is unbelievable and I can't wait to see what she does next."
Led by Romero, Oregon got par-or-better performances from all five players in its lineup on Tuesday to post a 4-under 284 and move up and finish second as a team at 12-under par, six strokes behind No. 16 North Carolina for first and one stroke ahead of No. 20 Baylor for third.
Oregon has now finished as the runners-up in three of six tournaments in 2025-26, and the Ducks have posted top-two finishes 33 times since Radley took over in 2018-19.
"Really proud of our team for finishing strong today with all five players at par or better," Radley said. "This was a good field and a challenging golf course. It was great to get Karen back in the lineup and all five of our ladies had some really good moments this week. Another good step for us as a team as we continue to try to get better throughout the spring before postseason."
How it Happened: Romero got off to yet another hot start, making back-to-back birdies at holes 3 and 4 to quickly get to 1 under. She was 1 under at the turn before putting together a flawless back nine with seven pars and two birdies, including a birdie putt on the 18th hole to seal her victory.
Romero (66-70-69) led all players with 18 total birdies across the three rounds, moving up to No. 6 in program history with 326 in her career. She has now shot par-or-better in 63 of 79 career rounds with 32 sub-70 performances, and she has placed in the individual top three in five of six tournaments this season.
Oregon finished with two players in the individual top 10 thanks to a seventh-place showing by junior Karen Tsuru, who impressed in her season debut after battling injuries for much of the year. Tsuru shot par-or-better in all three rounds, opening with a 3-under 69 and a 2-under 70 on Monday before closing with an even-par 72 to finish at 5-under par.
Sophomore Tong An joined Romero in the red for the final round, firing a 1-under 71 to earn a top-20 finish at even par for the week. An was even through eight holes after a double bogey, but she shot 1 under the rest of the way with a pair of birdies.
Freshman Sophie Han and junior Darae Chung each matched Tsuru with even-par 72s to round out the counting scores, the best round of the week for both Ducks.
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
2. Oregon — 280-288-284 — 852 (-8)
1. Kiara Romero — 66-70-69 — 205 (-11)
7. Karen Tsuru — 68-70-72 — 211 (-5)
T-20. Tong An — 71-74-71 — 216 (E)
T-47. Sophie Han — 74-74-72 — 220 (+4)
T-61. Darae Chung — 76-76-72 — 224 (+8)
Notable: Romero shot 7-under par for the week on par-4 holes, five strokes better than any team in the field ... An (-8) tied for the second-best score on par-5 holes, while Tsuru (-3) tied for third-best on par-3s ... Tsuru has now shot par-or-better 19 times in her career while An has done so 21 times, Chung has done so 18 times and Han has done so seven times.
Up Next: Oregon will return to action at the Game Above Sports Invitational in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., on March 9-10.
After entering Tuesday's final round with a one-shot lead, Romero fired a 3-under 69 to win individual medalist honors by four strokes at 11-under par for the week. Romero earned her first win of the season and broke a tie with Kendra Little (2008-11) for the most individual wins in program history.
"Kiara showed again this week why she's the best player in college golf and the top-ranked amateur in the world," head coach Derek Radley said. "She was locked in from the start and navigated this golf course beautifully. It was awesome to see her get another win and super special for her to break yet another program record. The legacy she is leaving here at Oregon is unbelievable and I can't wait to see what she does next."
Led by Romero, Oregon got par-or-better performances from all five players in its lineup on Tuesday to post a 4-under 284 and move up and finish second as a team at 12-under par, six strokes behind No. 16 North Carolina for first and one stroke ahead of No. 20 Baylor for third.
Oregon has now finished as the runners-up in three of six tournaments in 2025-26, and the Ducks have posted top-two finishes 33 times since Radley took over in 2018-19.
"Really proud of our team for finishing strong today with all five players at par or better," Radley said. "This was a good field and a challenging golf course. It was great to get Karen back in the lineup and all five of our ladies had some really good moments this week. Another good step for us as a team as we continue to try to get better throughout the spring before postseason."
How it Happened: Romero got off to yet another hot start, making back-to-back birdies at holes 3 and 4 to quickly get to 1 under. She was 1 under at the turn before putting together a flawless back nine with seven pars and two birdies, including a birdie putt on the 18th hole to seal her victory.
Romero (66-70-69) led all players with 18 total birdies across the three rounds, moving up to No. 6 in program history with 326 in her career. She has now shot par-or-better in 63 of 79 career rounds with 32 sub-70 performances, and she has placed in the individual top three in five of six tournaments this season.
Oregon finished with two players in the individual top 10 thanks to a seventh-place showing by junior Karen Tsuru, who impressed in her season debut after battling injuries for much of the year. Tsuru shot par-or-better in all three rounds, opening with a 3-under 69 and a 2-under 70 on Monday before closing with an even-par 72 to finish at 5-under par.
Sophomore Tong An joined Romero in the red for the final round, firing a 1-under 71 to earn a top-20 finish at even par for the week. An was even through eight holes after a double bogey, but she shot 1 under the rest of the way with a pair of birdies.
Freshman Sophie Han and junior Darae Chung each matched Tsuru with even-par 72s to round out the counting scores, the best round of the week for both Ducks.
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
2. Oregon — 280-288-284 — 852 (-8)
1. Kiara Romero — 66-70-69 — 205 (-11)
7. Karen Tsuru — 68-70-72 — 211 (-5)
T-20. Tong An — 71-74-71 — 216 (E)
T-47. Sophie Han — 74-74-72 — 220 (+4)
T-61. Darae Chung — 76-76-72 — 224 (+8)
Notable: Romero shot 7-under par for the week on par-4 holes, five strokes better than any team in the field ... An (-8) tied for the second-best score on par-5 holes, while Tsuru (-3) tied for third-best on par-3s ... Tsuru has now shot par-or-better 19 times in her career while An has done so 21 times, Chung has done so 18 times and Han has done so seven times.
Up Next: Oregon will return to action at the Game Above Sports Invitational in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., on March 9-10.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
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