Opening Golf to the World
WAGR
Kiara Romero wins McCormack Medal for a second time
12 Aug 26
6 mins
Kiara Romero of San Jose, California, has won the Mark H McCormack Medal as the leading women’s golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) for the second consecutive year.
The 20-year-old has enjoyed another impressive season in 2026 and held off Spain’s Paula Martín Sampedro to win the prestigious honour. The McCormack Medal winner receives exemptions into the 2027 US Women’s Open Presented by Ally at the Inverness Club – a major Romero has already qualified for having won the low amateur honours with a tied-sixth finish at the championship at Riviera in June – and the 2027 AIG Women’s Open at Royal St George’s, provided she remains amateur. “I’m proud to win this award for a second time,” said Romero, the University of Oregon player. “I feel like all my hard work is paying off. I think these last few years I’ve just been playing really well, enjoying stress-free golf and having fun out there. It’s been amazing. “This year’s US Women’s Open is a highlight for me. Playing so well and testing my game against the best players in the world was really cool and being in California a lot of my family were able to come and support me. It was also my first time playing in the Curtis Cup. It was a lot of fun and I always love playing team golf.” Romero has again dominated at college level, holding numerous historic records. Romero is the first WGCA three-time, first-team all-American in Oregon women’s history (2024, 2025 and 2026). She holds the Oregon programme record with six career individual tournament victories – including the Chevron Collegiate in February and the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Invitational in March – while achieving seven runner-up, 22 top-ten and 28 top-20 finishes overall. Romero, who also posted a tied-fourth finish at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April, has recorded Oregon’s single-season record for scoring average in each of her first three seasons, including a 69.23 mark in 2025-26. Outside of college accolades, Romero took home her first USGA championship win in 2023 at the US Girls' Junior Amateur and has now made six major championship appearances, most recently at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes. She starred on her debut in the USA’s Curtis Cup win at Bel-Air in June and represented her country for the third time in the Arnold Palmer Cup this year.
Kiara Romero competed at the AIG Women's Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
“On behalf of the USGA, we congratulate Kiara on earning the McCormack Medal for a second consecutive year,” said John Bodenhamer, Chief Championships Officer at the USGA. “Her remarkable play at Riviera and her contributions to our victorious Curtis Cup team were a testament to the calibre of player she has become. Kiara continues to excel on the biggest stages and we’re proud to recognise another outstanding year of achievement from one of the game’s rising stars.”
Grant Moir, Chief Global Golf Alliance Officer at The R&A, said, “Kiara has again enjoyed a hugely consistent year, performing at a high level in a number of leading amateur championships and impressing in major championships alongside the world’s best professionals. Winning the women’s McCormack Medal for the second time-in-a-row is an outstanding achievement and we look forward to seeing Kiara’s career continue to blossom.”
Rose Zhang was the last back-to-back winner of the women’s McCormack Medal after she won three years in-a-row from 2020-22.
The R&A and the USGA co-award the McCormack Medal annually. It is named after Mark H McCormack, who founded sports marketing company IMG and was a great supporter of amateur golf.
The WAGR®, which is supported by Rolex, was established in 2007 when the men’s ranking was launched. The men’s ranking encompasses over 4,000 counting events, ranking over 5,000 players from 129 countries. The women’s ranking was launched in 2011 and has a calendar of 3,000 counting events with more than 3,310 ranked players from 103 countries.