Kiara Romero shoots 69 on Friday, sits at 8-under in tie for 11th at Portland Classic

PORTLAND, Or. – Kiara Romero the rising junior at the University of Oregon displayed her No. 1 Women’s Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) Friday, at the Standard Portland Classic.

Romero shot a 69, 3-under with an impressive eagle on hole 12 that catapulted her up the leaderboard. She is tied for 11th after round two heading into the weekend with a ton of confidence. She had two birdies, one bogey, and one eagle to put her at 8-under for the tournament.

Jeongeun Lee5 is the leader at 12-under, while Grace Kim shot a 65 to get to 11-under along with Gurleen Kaur.

Romero, who is only 19 years old, but her experience is not lacking as she had a T-45 at the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open after firing a 67, 5-under the low round of the final round.

“Yeah, it feels really good just to see my game match up against some of these pros, just getting more comfortable playing in front of crowds and stuff,” Romero said.  “My first time playing in front of a big crowd I kind of got a little bit shaken up and was nervous out there. I'm getting more comfortable, just and getting the experience out here means a lot.”

Originally from San Jose, California Romero hit 9 of 14 fairways, hitting 29 putts and hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation on Friday. She was 1 for 3 in sand saves.

“I've learned a lot with my mentality and just knowing how to stay patient out there,” Romero said. “You make a mistake early on in the holes, I'm just really confident in getting things together in the next few holes. So just knowing how to stay patient and be confident in myself.”

Romero is no stranger to winning big tournaments. She won the individual conference championship in 2024, capturing the Big Ten title. She followed that up with a 16-under 200 to earn individual medalist honors at the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional. Romero also won the 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship.

On Wednesday Romero was announced as the winner of the 2025 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading female player in the 2025 World Amateur Golf Rankings.

“I was hitting it pretty good out there,” Romero said. “Putting was okay. Wasn't bad. These greens are pretty fast but I'm getting used to them, so hopefully I can just keep staying patient and maybe they'll start to drop.”

Gigi Stoll from Tigard, Oregon who is in her second year on the LPGA Tour shot a 70, 2-under to finish at 2-under for the tournament just above the cut line.

Stoll had two birdies and two bogies on the front nine, and after a bogey on 13, sat at +1. But she would go on to birdie three out of her last four holes to get to 2-under for the tournament.

“Make a run. Excited to get in the money but the jobs not done. I’ll try and give this leaderboard a run and do what I can to move on up.” Stoll said.

Caroline Inglis from Eugene, Oregon, who played at the University of Oregon and has been a member on the LPGA Tour since 2017, shot a 70, 2-under on Thursday. She followed that up with a 72, even par after a hot start on the front nine where she had four birdies including three in a row.

“I'm just really happy to be able to play,” Inglis said. “I think it's really cool to have all the support and like family and friends out. It's just always so special at this event being my home course and seeing friends that I haven't seen in forever. My mom is out here. That's really cool they've that support. On the front nine I made like three birdies in a row and it was pretty loud. It was fun.

“Yeah, it's super fun. It's exciting. It just makes you feel good and you want to make more birdies. Yeah, I think it's fun. You don't get that that much.”

Inglis is a member at Columbia Edgewater CC where the Portland Classic is being held this week and has heard a lot of players talk about the great conditions at the course.

“I think I know the superintendent, Jim Myers pretty well, and he's just really dedicated to his job. I think this week we always get such incredible conditions,” Inglis said. “I had a couple girls ask me, is this course always this pure? I said, pretty much. I mean, we are really lucky. Best greens in Portland year-round. It's a great practice facility and the course is always pristine, so we're lucky.”

Rose Zhang fired a 8-under 64 in round two after an opening 75, to get to 5-under and tie for 27^th . Zhang had an eagle two on the par four 9^th , that got some roars from the Portland Classic crowd.

“I honestly knew that I needed a really low score today to even have a chance to make the cut, so honestly that was kind of my objective out there,” Zhang said. “I felt like that's exactly what I did. The front nine I started getting some momentum and then managed to have some birdies on the par-5s, which is always really, really good.”

Here is a highlight of Romero teeing off on Hole 16 at the Portland Classic