The pair were tied entering the third and final round, one shot back of second-round leder Kelly Xu.

Each of the playoff contenders shot a 4-under-par 68 on the final day to finish 54 holes at 16-under, though it was Romero who actually forced the playoff by birdieing the par-5 18th hole.

It was not only the second consecutive playoff on the LPGA developmental tour, the Epson Tour, but the second straight for Romero, a California native who played collegiately in her home state at NCAA Division I Pepperdine.

This 23-year-old Epson Tour rookie lost in a playoff at last week’s Great Lakes Championship at the Highlands in the Lower Peninsula while she has made the cut in all 10 of her starts this season.

Island Resort Championship winner Kaleiya Romero holds up the trophy for winning the tournament and also clinching the title for the Pure Michigan Cup after the event’s third round on Sunday at Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris. (Photo courtesy Epson Tour website)

“Super happy, kind of relieved,” Romero said about her victory in post-tournament notes emailed by Espon Tour Communications. “Last week I was nervous. I think I haven’t been in contention in a while just because I had taken a year off from competing (after college).

“Yeah, so just to be back, to have another opportunity to try again and come out on top, it just means a lot and super happy.”

In Sunday’s playoff, Romero hit a 5-iron shot from the 18th fairway to just inside 10 feet from the hole to set up an eagle opportunity. She dropped the putt to win her first professional title, claiming $33,750 and 500 points in the Race for the Card standings that determines which Epson players get promotions to the main LPGA Tour next season.

Those points propelled her from fourth place into second place in the Race for the Card standings with 1,311.067 points. Last year, 15 Epson players were promoted to the LPGA, and currently 15th place is at 542.583 points.

In addition, Romero’s victory clinched her the top spot in the 2026 Pure Michigan Cup, worth another $10,000.

While Romero got off to a good start Sunday, making the turn for her final nine holes at 3-under-par for the day, Zeng got hot down the stretch, birdieing Nos. 12, 14, 16 and 17 to take a one-shot lead headed to the 18th.

Xu, the second-round leader, carded a 2-under 70 on Sunday to finish at 15-under, one back of Romero and Zeng. Joining Xu at 15-under was Catherine Park, with a final-round 67, and Lauren Olivares, with 69 Sunday.

Olivares, who leads the Race for the Card standings just a few points ahead of Romero, had defeated Romero in the Great Lakes Championship playoff a week earlier. Olivares also won $6,000 for finishing second in the Pure Michigan Cup standings, which used results from three Michigan events on the Epson Tour in back-to-back-to-back weeks in June.

Romero got herself into position to win the Island Resort title after an opening-round 65 on Friday that gave her the lead at that point and included her first tournament hole-in-one along with an eagle and four birdies. The ace came on the par-3 12th, where she used an 8-iron, while the eagle came on the par-4 fifth after she holed out from 140 yards in the rough by using a 9-iron.

“The hole-in-one, because this is my first hole-in-one in a tournament,” Romero answered when asked about which milestone was more exciting in the Epson Tour first-day notes. “I was still super hyped about the 140, because it was from the rough, but first hole-in-one at a tournament, so I was super excited.”

Story contents based on an email received from Epson Tour Communications and an examination of the Epson tour website at www.epsontour.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.