GOLF.GARA: From the Ducks’ Staff to the Race for the Card: Kaleiya Romero’s Oregon Roots Fuel a Career Season
When Kaleiya Romero tees it up this week at The Standard Portland Classic, she won’t just be competing on the LPGA Tour, she’ll be doing it in a state that already feels like home.
The 24-year-old from San Jose, California, arrives at Columbia Edgewater Country Club sitting at No. 2 in the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card, trailing fellow rookie Lauren Olivares in the standings that determine who earns LPGA Tour membership for 2027. It’s the latest milestone in a rookie season that has turned into one of the breakout stories of the year on the LPGA’s official developmental tour, and one that traces directly back to a detour Romero never expected to take: a season on the coaching staff at the University of Oregon.









