Kiara Romero led No. 5 Oregon to its second NCAA Regional win in program history.
Romero finished 16-under to win the individual tournament title by seven strokes and the Ducks shot a tournament-best 7-under at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club on Wednesday to win the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional at 12-under overall.
Oregon advances to the 2025 NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California from May 16-21. UO’s last regional title was in the 2022 Albuquerque Regional, when it finished as the national runner-up.
“Super proud of our team for not only punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships, but for coming out here and getting a win against a really good field,” Oregon coach Derek Radley said. “They didn’t come here with the mindset of just finishing in the top five; they wanted to make a statement. Really pleased with the way our whole lineup performed today. It’s not easy to get to the NCAA Championships, and these ladies have earned it. We’re excited to get back to Carlsbad and see what we can do next week.”
Arizona State (3-under), Oklahoma State (2-over), Mississippi State (11-over) and Cal State Fullerton (23-over) each also advanced to the NCAA Championships from the regional.
Radley earned another $10,000 bonus for UO reaching the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in program history, including the fourth in the last five years. Radley has earned $22,500 in bonuses this season.
Romero made seven more birdies during the third round, to finish 4-under on Wednesday. The Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year beat ASU’s Patience Rhodes (9-under) for the individual regional title.
“What can you say about Kiara Romero at this point?” Radley said. “She is just on another level. The combination of talent, confidence and composure she has is incredible, especially at such a young age. Just an unbelievable performance by her this week to lead us and I’m so excited to see what she can do at nationals.”
Suvichaya Vinijchaitham shot 3-under 69 on Wednesday to finish the regional at even par, tied for eighth. Ting-Hsuan Huang shot 2-under 70 on Wednesday and finished 3-over for the tournament and Tong An shot 2-over 74 on Wednesday and was 1-over for the tournament.