How a former USGA champion ended up caddying for the world’s No. 1 amateur at the Curtis Cup
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LOS ANGELES — The first time Greg Puga met Kiara Romero was Tuesday on the range at Bel-Air Country Club. The caddie of 27 years at the famous George C. Thomas design has looped on the LPGA for players like Lizette Salas and Ryann O'Toole and been around some of the best female golfers to ever play the game.
It only took him a couple shots to realize Romero was different.
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"When I saw her swing and hit, and I'm like, 'are you f-----g kidding me right now?'" Puga recalled. "She just kept hitting it, the sound of the ball, dude, was elite. Elite. She's top five ball strikers that I've ever seen on the women's side."
Romero, the No. 1 amateur in the world and 2023 U.S. Girls' Junior winner, made her Curtis Cup debut this week for the United States in the 44th edition at Bel-Air. Puga, a former USGA champion himself, winning his title at the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2000, was selected to caddie for one of the 16 competitors on the USA or Great Britain & Ireland teams. On Monday, there was a lottery for selected caddies to find out who they would loop for during the biannual competition. Thanks to a lucky ping pong ball, the pair of USGA champions were group together.
"That's amazing," Puga said. "I mean, I don't know if that's ever been done before. A USGA champion caddying for another USGA champion."
Puga is a legend at Bel-Air, one of the more notable caddies who is more like a local celebrity among members. After Friday's foursomes bout, he stood near the putting green outside the clubhouse as numerous members on the patio and those walking in from the afternoon action stopped to say hello.
His time as a Bel-Air caddie began in 1999. The following year, Puga defeated Wayne Raath, 3 and 1, at The Homestead (Cascades Course) in Hot Springs, Virginia. That earned him a spot in the 2001 Masters, where he played alongside Seve Ballesteros and Steve Stricker. Puga turned professional for a short while in 2005 but regained amateur status and even competed again in the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2015.
And the entire time, he never stopped looping at Bel-Air.
Back in 2023, Puga was on the bag for Briana Chacon, who won medalist honors at the U.S. Women's Amateur held at the course. Chacon set a U.S. Women's Amateur scoring record in stroke play, finishing at 9-under 131. At the time, Chacon was about to begin her final season at Oregon. One of her incoming teammates that fall? Romero.
"I texted (Chacon) the other day, 'So turns out I'm caddying for Kiara Romero at the Curtis Cup at Bel-Air.' She's like, 'No way, oh my god. You guys are gonna kill it,' you know, whatever.'" Puga said. "She goes, 'I'm gonna text her.'"
In her three years in Eugene, Romero has become the best player in program history. She is a three-time first-team All-American, owns the program record for career scoring average, victories and much more. She's also on the cusp of an LPGA tour card, needing only two more points in the Tour's Elite Amateur Pathway program to earn immediate status.
During a practice round Tuesday, the reserved Romero quietly began a conversation with Puga on the second hole. "Do you still play," Romero asked Puga. "I knew Briana had texted her then," Puga said. Then on the fourth hole, Romero continued: "Who did you play with in the Masters?"
"I said, 'Seve Ballesteros and Steve Stricker.' She goes, 'I don't know those guys,'" Puga said.
Romero was born March 7, 2006, nearly 5 years after Puga played in the Masters.
Their conversations have become more in-depth as the week has gone on, but it's easy for Puga to see why Romero is the best female amateur in the world. She has a killer instinct but does so with a businesslike approach. She doesn't get too high after good shots and won't beat herself up for poor ones.
Last week, Puga was in attendance on Sunday at the U.S. Women's Open, a couple miles away at Riviera, when he noticed an amateur playing her way up the leaderboard. He decided to go follow. That player was Romero, who finished tied for sixth and shared the stage Sunday with eventual winner Nelly Korda.
Come Monday, Romero's name was picked out of a hat. Then the lottery balls were bouncing around, and Puga's name was chosen.
"I knew the name sounded familiar, so I had to look it up," Puga said. "Then I realized who it was. That's amazing."
Romero and partner Asterisk Talley put the first USA point on the board Friday with a stellar four-ball win, but they flamed out in afternoon foursomes. Romero didn't play to the level Puga knows she can, and it's something he saw even before getting to know his player at Bel-Air.
"Can't wait till tomorrow because she's gonna kill it," Puga said Friday after two trips around Bel-Air. "The way she played, me as a golfer, if I played like that, I'd be so pissed off. I would mentally be like, 'Tomorrow I'm gonna go out and just kick ass, like nobody's beating me tomorrow.'
"I have a feeling that's her mentality."
Talley and Romero are once again paired in four-ball, heading out in the anchor match after being in the lead-off spot for both sessions Friday. The duo is starring for the U.S., with a good chance of playing all five sessions as the USA tries to take back the Curtis Cup.
That's exactly what Romero wants, and it's exactly what Puga expects from his fellow USGA champion, even if their titles came 23 years apart.
"This girl's gonna win majors. Believe me, believe me," Puga proclaimed Friday afternoon. "I can guarantee it. The way I've seen women's golf all the time, and this girl, her head on her shoulders. Amazing."
Almost as incredible as the star-studded pairing at Bel-Air.
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor for Golfweek, focusing on college and amateur golf.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Curtis Cup 2026: Past USGA champ Greg Puga caddying for Kiara Romero