Oregon women's golfer Kiara Romero wins McMormack Medal as top female amateur in the world

Kiara Romero will go into her junior season on the Oregon women's golf team with a notable dinstinction – top amateur player in the world.

Romero was named winner of the McCormack Medal, which goes to the leading female player in the 2025 World Amateur Golf Ranking and is awarded jointly by the United States Golf Association and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

As the McCormack Medal winner, Romero will receive exemptions into the 2026 U.S. Women's Open and the 2026 AIG Women's Open in England. 

"It's an incredible honor to win the McCormack Medal," Romero said. "This is a really nice reminder of how far I've already come in my golf career. I know how special winning this medal is, and I hope I can follow in the footsteps of the inspiring players who have won it before me."

The 19-year-old from San Jose, Calif., was the 2025 Big Ten women's golfer of the year and is the first Duck to be a two-time, first-team all-American.

During her sophomore season, Romero broke her own UO single-season records for scoring average (69.91) and birdies (138) and led the Ducks to the match play semifinals at the NCAA championships for the second year in a row.

Last spring, Romero became the third Duck to win an individual conference championship.

“On behalf of the USGA, we congratulate Kiara on this prestigious honor,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA's chief championships officer. “Kiara’s commitment to the game is evident, with her first USGA championship victory already among her lengthy list of accolades. Her back-to-back starts in the U.S. Women’s Open along with her display of consistent top performances in her collegiate career is an exceptional showcase of a player deserving of the McCormack medal.” 

Chris Hansen covers University of Oregon football, men’s basketball, track and field, cross country and softball for The Register-Guard. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon women's golfer Kiara Romero named world's top amateur