LOS ANGELES – Growing up, there was no Wi-Fi in the Romero house. No cell phones for the kids until age 16. No after-school TV binges either. The activity plan was simple: Go outside and find something to do.
“Kind of like the 80s,” said Rick Romero, a chiropractor who, along with his wife Maricel, also kept them away from junk food and sodas.
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They played other sports growing up in San Jose, California, particularly baseball, but after the Romero kids – Kyreece, Kaleiya and Kiara – were gifted their first set of golf clubs by their grandparents, they became regulars at the par-3 course near their house, Santa Teresa, because they could pay $5 and play every day. The self-taught, athletic trio began taking formal lessons from Jon Horner at CordeValle in high school, and he remains their only instructor. Neither of their parents play.
“We like to keep things pretty simple,” said Kaleiya, who at 23 is the eldest of the three.
More: Everything to know about the 2026 Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club
After solid U.S. Open, Romero makes Curtis Cup debut
This week, 20-year-old Kiara Romero, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world and a rising senior at Oregon, makes her debut on the U.S. Curtis Cup team at Bel-Air Country Club. Kaleiya, meanwhile, heads to Michigan, where the Epson Tour picked back up after a long break. For Kyreece, it’s back to Oregon to finish final exams. He has entered college golf’s transfer portal for his final season of eligibility. While Kyreece would like to give professional golf a chance, he also knows that Kiara wants him on the bag for her professional career – eventually.
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While the Romeros are now scattered, the tight-knit family was all together last week at Riviera Country Club, where Kiara took low-amateur honors after a T-6 performance that included a closing 68. Kaleiya, a nearby Pepperdine grad, also made the cut in her Women’s Open debut with Kyreece as caddie, taking a share of 49th.
Even the family dog, Kona, made the trip to Riv.
Kiara has been a big fan of Nelly’s since she arrived on the LPGA in 2017. As the younger sister to the accomplished Jessica Korda, Kiara found Nelly to be a relatable underdog. The Romero family even follows the progress of the Kordas’ younger brother Sebastian, a top American tennis player. Kiara met Nelly for the first time last week at Riviera, playing an early-week practice round with her and then posing for photos with the champ on the 18th green Sunday.
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“I saw that she said in her interview that she plays her best when she’s happy and free out there,” said Kiara, “and honestly, that’s something that we’re all kind of learning.”
Kiara Romero plays her tee shot on the third hole during the final round of the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Sunday, June 7, 2026.
After pressing too hard to make the cut at the Chevron Championship, hoping to earn a valuable point toward the 20 needed to earn her card through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway program, Kiara took a different approach at the second major of the year.
“It just kind of, like, took over my mind,” said Kiara of the Chevron, “and then the second I made a mistake on the second day, it kind of just went downhill from there and kind of started spiraling on me a little bit. But it was a great learning experience.”
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Kiara Romero already has 16 LEAP points
After a top-10 finish at Riviera, and an invitation to come back next year to the Women’s Open at Inverness, Kiara now has 16 LEAP points. She’ll earn two more this week at the Curtis Cup and then one more for participating in the Palmer Cup. Romero will likely have enough points to turn professional later this summer.
Curtis Cup teammate and NCAA champion Farah O’Keefe calls Kiara “kind of a badass.”
“I don’t know, she’s just cool,” said O’Keefe, “and you want to talk about peak athletes, like, that’s a peak athlete. She’s literally built like a wide receiver. I mean, she could go catch a pass from Matthew Stafford right now, no problem, you know? But she plays golf.”
Kaleiya, who happens to be the most explosive player of the bunch from her days as an excellent baseball player, says her younger brother and sister are like twins; they’re so much alike.
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They fish and hike in Oregon, with Kiara recently taking up duck hunting.
“It’s a bad thing to say since I am a Duck,” she said, laughing.
Kiara Romero of the Oregon Ducks looks on during day one of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 16, 2025 in Carlsbad, California.
Kiara Romero spent quality time with siblings
When a local Toyota dealership offered the chance to pick out a car for college, Kiara went with a Tundra pickup truck for their outdoor adventures. The Romero kids are grateful for their tech-free childhood as it made them especially close and competitive. (The Wi-Fi did come eventually when they moved to online school.)
“I wouldn’t say forced to hang out with each other,” said Kiara, “but when you can’t turn on the TV and video games and lock yourself in your room, that’s what you do. You hang out with the people around you and just live in the present moment. And I think that was the best thing that they could have ever done for us.”
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Kaleiya currently sits 15th on the Epson Tour Race for the Card points list, which means she’s on the bubble for earning her LPGA card for next year. The top 15 at the end of the season earn LPGA status for 2027. There’s a good chance the Romero sisters will make it four sister acts on the LPGA, joining the Jutanugarns, Iwai twins and Kordas.
“Kiara’s the bulldog,” said Kyreece of his sisters’ games. “I mean, never gets rattled. … [Kaleiya] hits it farther than any girl I’ve ever seen.”
Kiara Romero (USA) watches her shot on the seventh hole during a practice round ahead of the 2026 Curtis Cup at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, June 11, 2026. (Chris Keane/USGA)
On the back nine Sunday at Riviera, Kiara noticed her siblings outside the ropes trying to make her laugh. Their levity helped bring perspective as she birdied two of the last three holes. While at Oregon, Kiara’s mental game has matured as she has grown stronger in her faith, connecting with peers through Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
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“At the end of the day, God has a plan for you, and it’s not going to change just because you shot a 75,” she said on a sunny afternoon at Bel-Air.
“If you put things into perspective that way, it kind of changes a lot. … I always say, if I can introduce a couple people to Jesus, that would be more important than winning a golf tournament.”
Though she seems destined to do plenty of both.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the LPGA and women’s golf.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: No. 1 amateur Kiara Romero set for Curtis Cup after U.S. Open top 10
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