WILMETTE, Ill. — Freshman Suvichaya Vinijchaitham finished third overall and sophomore Kiara Romero tied for fifth on Tuesday as the Oregon women’s golf team closed its second tournament of the fall with a fifth-place showing at the Windy City Collegiate Classic at Westmoreland Country Club.
The Ducks officially ended the second round in sixth place after multiple teams finished their final holes on Tuesday morning, and then fired a 16-over 304 to move up and claim a top-five finish for the fourth straight year at the Windy City Classic.
Vinijchaitham finished as one of just three players in the field under par, placing third overall at 1 under, and Romero came in at 3-over par to tie for fifth.
“Proud of our team for coming away with a top-five finish in a tough field on a challenging golf course,” head coach Derek Radley said. “Really impressed with the way Suvichaya has performed here early on as a true freshman – she’s super talented – and you just know every time out what you’re going to get out of Kiara. We have some areas to work on in practice and I’m excited to see how we can continue to get better as we move through the season.”
How it Happened: After posting an even-par 72 and a 2-under 70 across 36 holes on Monday, Vinijchaitham made five more birdies en route to a 1-over 73. A triple bogey on the par-5 eighth hole inflated the score of an otherwise terrific round, and the freshman led Oregon on the week with 15 total birdies.
Vinijchaitham came in behind only USC’s Jasmine Koo (-5) and Purdue’s Natasha Kiel (-3). She now has top-15 finishes in each of her first two collegiate tournaments and has shot par-or-better in four of her first six rounds.
Romero posted a 1-under 71 for the second round in a row, bouncing back nicely from a 5-over 77 in the opening round. She made three birdies against just two bogeys to finish par-or-better for the 28th time in 37 rounds as a Duck, and she claimed her fourth career top-five finish.
Sophomore Karen Tsuru and freshman Tong An both shot 8 over to round out Oregon’s counting scores. The Ducks played with just four players in their counting lineup on Tuesday after sophomore Ting-Hsuan Huang was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Junior Anika Varma closed her week with an 8-over day as well and tied for 43rd overall while competing as an individual.
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
5. Oregon – 299-292 – 591 (+14)
3. Suvichaya Vinjchaitham – 72-70-73 – 215 (-1)
T5. Kiara Romero – 77-71-71 – 219 (+3)
T43. Anika Varma (Ind.) – 75-74 -80- 229 (+13)
T56. Karen Tsuru – 77-75-80 – 232 (+16)
T64. Tong An – 81-78-80 – 239 (+23)
WD. Ting-Hsuan Huang – 73-76-WD – 149 (+5)
Up Next: Oregon will return to action on Oct. 21-23 at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup in Nichols Hills, Okla., the first of two fall tournaments for the Ducks that will be featured on Golf Channel.
