For the second consecutive year, Kiara Romero has been awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal, recognising her as the leading women’s player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.

The 20-year-old from San Jose, California, finished ahead of Spain’s Paula Martín Sampedro, The R&A and USGA announced on Wednesday.

The award provides Romero exemptions for the 2027 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at Inverness Club and the 2027 AIG Women’s Open at Royal St George’s, provided she remains an amateur.

Her place at Inverness is already secure after she finished tied sixth and claimed low-amateur honours at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera.

“I’m proud to win this award for a second time, I feel like all my hard work is paying off.”

Romero’s Major Results Add to Strong Season

Romero shot rounds of 73, 70, 70 and 68 at Riviera to finish three under par. It was her best result in three U.S. Women’s Open appearances, following a tied-45th finish in 2025 and a missed cut in 2024.

“This year’s US Women’s Open is a highlight for me,” Romero said. “Playing so well and testing my game against the best players in the world was really cool, and because I was in California, a lot of my family were able to come and support me.”

She also tied fourth at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April, finishing eight under par to record the best result by an Oregon player in the event.

Romero then made her Curtis Cup debut at Bel-Air in June as the United States defeated Great Britain and Ireland. She also represented her country at the Arnold Palmer Cup for the third time and made her sixth major championship appearance at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Romero Adds to Oregon Records

Romero won the Chevron Collegiate by four shots in February before taking the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Invitational by five in March. Those results lifted her career total to six individual victories, an Oregon programme record.

Her University of Oregon record also includes seven runner-up finishes and 22 top-10 results across 30 college tournaments. She has completed 71 of her 87 career rounds at par or better, with 37 scores below 70.

A scoring average of 69.23 during the 2025-26 campaign set another Oregon single-season record. Romero has now established the programme’s scoring-average mark in each of her first three college seasons.

She also became the first player in Oregon women’s golf history to earn WGCA first-team All-American honours in three consecutive seasons, receiving the distinction each year from 2024 through 2026.

Romero Joins a Short List of Repeat Winners

Each year, The R&A and USGA jointly award the McCormack Medal to the leading women’s player in WAGR. The honour bears the name of Mark H. McCormack, who founded sports marketing company IMG and was a supporter of amateur golf.

Rose Zhang was the previous player to win the women’s medal in successive years, completing a run of three consecutive awards from 2020 through 2022.

Since its launch in 2011, the women’s WAGR has featured 3,000 counting events and more than 3,310 ranked players from 103 countries.