The No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, Kiara Romero, hasn’t just made the cut, she is in firm contention at The Standard Portland Classic after two rounds, sitting four strokes back at -8.
Romero was fantastic in her first round, getting off to one of the more unique starts you will ever see, going birdie, birdie, birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey on her first six holes. All of that equaled up to -2. She was a bit more steady after that, making three birdies and not dropping anymore shots to finish at -5.
The second round, Romero made an early bogey on four surrounded by pars. She mentioned post round that it was a bit tougher to get warmed up in the morning with the chillier conditions Friday. She made birdies on six and eight though to get the round kick started and produced some fireworks with an eagle on the par 5 12.
Though Romero is originally from San Jose, Calif., she does play for the Oregon Ducks, so she is feeling a bit of home-state love out there this week. She did mention post round how she is still getting used to playing in front of crowds:
“My first time playing in front of a big crowd I kind of got a little bit shaken up and was nervous out there,” said Romero. “I’m getting more comfortable.”
It has been a big week for Romero, coming off a quarterfinal run in the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She then was awarded the women’s Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top ranked women’s amateur after the last major event of the season. With that she joins an elite group. Every winner of the McCormack Medal is an LPGA Tour winner as well. Past champions include major champions Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Jennifer Kupcho, Rose Zhang and last year’s winner, Lottie Woad.
Romero sits at -8 for the tournament, sitting four strokes back of current leader Jeongeun Lee5. Regardless of how the next two days pan out, Romero’s start is wildly exciting for a young player with a lot of potential star power.
