EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon women’s golf star Kiara Romero took over the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings on Wednesday as the reigning Big Ten Golfer of the Year prepares for her junior season with the Ducks. 

Romero spent much of the last year at No. 3 in the world rankings before ascending to the top spot after Florida State’s Lottie Woad and Mirabel Ting both turned professional.

The 2024 Big Ten Women’s Golfer of the Year, Romero became the first Duck ever to be a two-time, first-team all-American while putting together a sensational sophomore season. She shattered her own UO single-season records for scoring average (69.91) and birdies (138) while leading the Ducks to the match play semifinals at the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row.

Romero became the third Duck ever to win an individual conference championship in 2024, capturing the Big Ten title with a 7-under 209. She followed that up with a 16-under 200 to earn individual medalist honors at the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional, posting the second-lowest 54-hole score in program history on the strength of the lowest round ever by a Duck with a 10-under 62 in round two. 

On the season, Romero recorded a pair of wins, four runner-up finishes, nine top-10 finishes and 11 top-20 showings in 11 tournaments. She was the top Duck on the leaderboard at the NCAA Championships in a tie for eighth at 5 under, breaking her own UO individual 72-hole scoring record from 2024. In 32 rounds of stroke play, Romero shot par-or-better 26 times with 16 sub-70 performances. 

Romero took the nation by storm as a true freshman in 2023-24, becoming the first Duck to be named the national freshman of the year and just the second to earn first-team all-America honors. She was an all-Pac-12 first-team selection while posting a 70.84 scoring average, 118 birdies, two wins and nine top-20 finishes in 10 stroke play tournaments. 

Through her first two seasons in Eugene, Romero has shot par-or-better in 50 of 63 rounds of stroke play with 24 sub-70 performances.

The Ducks currently boast three players in the top 50 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings, with rising sophomore Suvichaya Vinijchaitham coming in at No. 18 and rising junior Karen Tsuru at No. 47.