PORTLAND CLASSIC

August 13, 2025

Kiara Romero

Columbia Edgewater Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, hello and welcome to the 2025 Standard Portland Classic. Joined the Kiara Romero, sponsor invite this week. Some news came out this morning, and first of all congratulations on winning the McCormack Medal.

Talk about what it meant to receive that.

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, it just meant a lot. You know, all the work that I put in the past few years and everything kind of coming together. Yeah, it's just been a great success so see my game continue to grow.

Just learning how to be a better person and better player every day and growing a lot in that sense and just seeing to succeed out on the golf course.

Q. Have you seen in the cool reactions on social media today or any posts congratulating you?

KIARA ROMERO: I really like the USGA post that they had. That was pretty cool.

Q. And you mentioned your amateur career. What can you talk about, say about being an amateur and what your journey has been like up to this point?

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, it's been really exciting. I loved playing in college and playing with my teammates. It's great camaraderie we have out there. We're all rooting for each other, even like other amateurs out there and other teams and stuff. I feel like we all root for each other. It's a really great community we have.

Q. You earned four points in the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway receiving the McCormack Medal today. Talk about what that program has meant to you and what opportunities you see with that program.

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, super grateful they started that for is so we have an opportunity to kind of work towards an LPGA card later in our college careers and there is a direct path they didn't have before. So, yeah, it's just a great opportunity, and getting those four points has really helped jump start that for me.

Yeah, I'm just -- I look forward to the next few years to see what will happen.

Q. And then receiving a sponsor's exemption this week, what did that news mean to you and how much are you looking forward to this week?

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, it is amazing hearing that news a few days ago and for my first LPGA event to be in Oregon and kind of like my second home to me like going to college here and stuff.

So, yeah, it was just a great honor to be out here and play against these pros for the first time in an LPGA event.

Q. You played at high stakes before, but what kind of comfortability do you have this week with your first start being in Oregon?

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, it's really nice to have my family out here and have the support from the Duck fans out here as well, some familiar faces. And, yeah, it helps for sure.

Q. What are you looking forward to seeing in players' games, pros' games out there this week playing with them?

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, just would like to see how my game matches up against them and see the areas that I can grow more in and work on and see where I'm lacking and see where the spaces where I'm doing really well and kind of go from there.

Q. Anyone specific you're hoping to see this week? I know we have LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster in the field this week. Anybody specific?

KIARA ROMERO: That would be great to see her and see how her game matches up out here. I got to play with Nancy Lopez this morning in the pro-am. That was pretty cool. A lot of talent out here and really excited to see how it goes.

Q. Anything you picked up from Nancy playing with her today?

KIARA ROMERO: Just her vibe out there. She's just really happy out there. Having fun. Just enjoying the game and still plays it to this day. Yeah, talked a lot about her past tournaments and experiences and how fun it was for her.

Q. Give you any tips for this course? She has won out here before.

KIARA ROMERO: I kind of watched how she played it and is stuff and picked up a few things. Yeah, excited to see.

Q. Can you give an example of a time in a tournament when you made a big change that helped you play better?

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah. I have this one example from the first year I played kind of like one of the biggest events for me was like the U.S. Open. I missed the cut which was a little bit tough for me, and then this year I came out there with like kind of a sense of just like playing freely.

I feel like the first year I put a lot of pressure on myself, and when we play tournaments I think we make it out to be a big deal in our head.

It's better to go out there and just go out there to have fun and enjoy it and stay in the moment and stay present. That's what I did this year and turned out to be a lot better. I think just playing, and at the end of the day golf is just a game and it's not the end of the world if you fail. Honestly you're probably learning more from failing than succeeding.

So just going out there and playing free-minded will help a lot.

Q. Just wondering how you will lean on your U.S. Women's Open experience this year? Shot a final round 67 and made the weekend. Yeah, just that performance tied for 45th, how will you take that forward this week?

KIARA ROMERO: Yeah, I think that was a great experience for me, making the cut and then shooting the lowest round on the final -- on Sunday. That was pretty cool to see. That was a really great round for me. It was cool to see how it matched up against the other pros and just really helped build a lot of the confidence out there.

I know like what I'm capable of now, so, yeah, I'm pretty excited to see how this week goes.