Kiara Romero – Photo by Max Bechtoldt/Women’s Golf Daily News
Coming into the CPKC Women’s Canadian Open, there was one particular storyline that was most intriguing, which was the professional debut of Kiara Romero, who has spent the last year as the world’s No. 1 amateur.
Through two rounds, Romero is living up to the hype and then some.
Romero broke out Thursday afternoon with the best score of the afternoon wave, carding a bogey-free, -6 64. She was hitting it long, giving herself plenty of birdie opportunities and navigating the greens well. It put her just two strokes back of the overnight lead held by Miyu Yamashita at -8.
While the second round for Romero, the 20-year-old from San Jose, Calif., wasn’t quite as strong as her opening round, it still kept her in strong position heading into the weekend.
Romero started well on her first nine with three birdies and once again no bogeys. On the back, she hit some struggles, dropping her first shot of the week on the par 4 first, her 10th of the day, and the par 4 sixth. She did also counter those bogeys with a couple more birdies to take the clubhouse lead alongside Soo Bin Joo and Yuri Yoshida in the morning wave.
This is a huge week for Romero, as she looks to join other recent amateur superstars Rose Zhang and Lottie Woad as winners in their first events as LPGA Tour members. It also carries major Solheim Cup ramifications, as Romero is fighting for a last-minute spot on the United States team. A win would likely allow her to qualify automatically, but any strong finish would probably give her a good chance at a captain’s pick.
While she is in good position for now, Yamashita and Hataoka both sit just one stroke back in the very early stages of their rounds, so there is still plenty of time to go. Still, this is a fantastic start for the former Oregon Duck.
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