Romero, Nagano Fuel Strong Finish

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — The Oregon women’s golf team closed the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate with its best round of the week on Wednesday, carding a 3-over 287 in the final round at Long Cove Club. 

The Ducks improved by 15 strokes from Tuesday’s second round and nine strokes from Monday’s opening round. Freshman Kiara Romero led the way with a 2-under 69, and senior Minori Nagano was right behind with a 1-under 70. 

How it Happened: Romero opened her round with bogey at No. 10, but was flawless the rest of the way. She immediately got that stroke back with a birdie at No. 11 before making seven straight pars to make the turn at even, and she carded back-to-back birdies at No. 2 and No. 3 to go along with seven pars on the front nine.

Romero finished as the top Duck on the leaderboard in a tie for 16th overall at 1-over par for the week, her fifth top-20 showing in six stroke-play tournaments. She has now shot par-or-better in 15 of her first 18 rounds as a Duck, including six sub-70 performances.

Nagano bounced back from two tough rounds to shoot under par for the 10th time this season. Like Romero, Nagano also rebounded from an early bogey to play error-free the rest of the way, making two birdies and 15 pars. 

Freshman Ting-Hsuan Huang closed the week with a 2-over 73, finishing in a tie for 33rd at 4 over. Fifth-year senior Ching-Tzu Chen completed the counting scores with her best round of the week, making three birdies en route to a 4-over 75. 

Ducks on the Leaderboard:

17. Oregon – 296-302-287 – 885 (+33)

T16. Kiara Romero – 74-71-69 – 214 (+1)

T33. Ting-Hsuan Huang – 70-74-73 – 217 (+4)

T66. Minori Nagano – 76-78-70 – 224 (+11)

T82. Anika Varma – 76-79-79 – 234 (+21)

87. Ching-Tzu Chen – 81-83-75 – 239 (+26)

Up Next: Oregon will return to action at the PING/ASU Invitational on March 28-30 in Tempe, Ariz.