meijer-lpga-classicTournament News
By Amy Rogers- Golf Channel
BELMONT, Mich. – When players receive a sponsor’s invitation to compete on the LPGA Tour it often becomes a life-changing experience that affords the athletes with not only a taste of competition at the highest level, but also the chance, for many, to realize a lifelong dream of competing in the professional ranks.
Top-ranked amateur Kiara Romero received one of the three sponsors’ invitations given out for this year’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. But Romero won’t just be simply gauging her game against the best in the game. She’ll be playing with the chance to join them as a fellow member of the LPGA Tour.
Romero has been on quite a run of success in recent weeks in which she notched a sixth place finish at the U.S. Women’s Open to secure low amateur honors and was a member of the victorious U.S. Curtis Cup team. Each of those achievements earned Romero valuable points in the LPGA’s Elite Amateur Pathway in which she now sits just two points shy of earning status on Tour with 18 LEAP points. Romero needs a total of 20 points to secure membership and with a top-10 finish at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Romero would earn the final two points she needs to earn Tour status via the LEAP program.
“It’s definitely a bit of a motivator,” Romero said Tuesday about the possibility of securing Tour membership. “It’s something I’ve been kind of working towards, and I’m obviously super grateful they created this program for us and it’s a great opportunity to go out there and get your LPGA card without having to go to Q-School and stuff.”
Fresh off her team’s victory at the Curtis Cup, Romero arrived in Michigan on Monday night and when she met with the media at Blythefield Country Club on Tuesday afternoon she hadn’t yet seen the golf course. With so much to play for at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Romero says she’ll be focused on having a fun time with her brother, Kyreece, who will be on her bag.
“When I think about setting goals and stuff, I think about like my attitude and having like a fun time out there and just playing the best that I can and giving it 110 percent effort,” Romero said about her mindset this week. “That’s really all I can control.”
Former Michigan State University teammates Katie Lu and Taylor Kehoe received the other two sponsor’s invitations to compete in the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give. Lu, a recent graduate of Michigan State, also received an invitation in 2024, and she remembers vividly the experience she had that week as it became the turning point that led her to pursue a career in golf.
“First, the little girls that were all out there. You give them a signed ball or a simple picture and their whole world changes,” Lu said about how competing at Blythefield two years ago changed her life. “Seeing how much of an impact the players on this stage have for the next generation just really opened my eyes.”
This week, Kehoe is getting a preview of what life in the professional ranks might look like as the amateur prepares to make her LPGA Tour debut on Thursday. Kehoe, who graduated from Michigan State in May, admits that she’s feeling quite nervous but is grateful to be able to lean on her course knowledge, having played Blythefield Country Club several times thanks to her time at Michigan State.
“I’m definitely still very nervous, but very excited,” Kehoe said about the week ahead. “I think it’s nice to kind of know the course a little bit extra, have some extra rounds in different conditions, because we haven’t always played this time of year. But obviously I practice on bent all the time, which I think will be very helpful for me because it’s very comfortable.”
