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Rory McIlroy played in the Masters 17 times before winning.

Tiger Woods once went 10 years between major championships.

Heck, even current world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has a bad round from time to time.

What I’m trying to say is: Even for the greats, golf is a fickle, tricky sport where it’s incredibly difficult to peak at the right time.

The Oregon women’s golf team found that out the hard way this week.

Coming into the year, Derek Radley’s team had national championship aspirations after winning the 2025 Big Ten title, reaching the national semifinals and returning a roster led by the world’s No. 1 amateur, Kiara Romero.

But Oregon’s path back to nationals fell short on Wednesday, where the No. 8 Ducks finished seventh in the NCAA Waco Regional at Ridgewood Country Club. Five teams from each regional advance to the NCAA Championships, and the Ducks entered the final round in fourth, but Oregon shot a 6-over 286 as a team to fall out of contention.

More sting to the loss: While Romero’s 1-under 69 in the final round was good enough to finish tied for third overall, she fell one stroke shy of earning the regional’s lone individual qualifying spot behind TCU’s Kirstin Angosta.

It was a brutal ending for the Ducks — and especially Romero, who finished her otherwise stellar junior year with two wins, seven top-10 finishes and 21 par-or-better rounds in 24 starts.

Meanwhile, the 50th-ranked Oregon State women’s golf team punched its ticket to nationals with a third-place finish in the Stanford Regional.

That’s golf for ya.

Sticking to the script

Oregon will look to duplicate 2025’s regional success at Jane Sanders Stadium. (Eric Evans/GoDucks.com) Credit: Photo by Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

The Ducks know this story.

A quick exit from the Big Ten Tournament, followed by a home regional at Jane Sanders Stadium, is exactly how the Ducks propelled themselves to the Women’s College World Series a year ago.

Can the Ducks find magic for a second year in a row?

Head coach Melyssa Lombardi certainly believes.

“I think this group’s in a really good place. I like the power that we have at the plate. I like our pitching, and I really like our defense. So I just think it’s just important for us to play as a team.”

The Ducks begin the Eugene Regional on Friday against Idaho State at 7 p.m.

‘I think we can beat anybody out there’

Credit: Tyson Alger

Oregon baseball wraps up its regular season this week against USC with pivotal seeding on the line for next week’s conference tournament.

And while the Ducks come into the series having lost two out of three games over the weekend to UCLA, Oregon’s back-and-forth battle against the nation’s No. 1 showed the Ducks they’re ready to compete against the best.

“After this weekend, it builds momentum for us regardless of the result,” second baseman Ryan Cooney said. “If there’s anything that we learned it’s that we belong, especially with these upper teams that are considered the best in the country. I think we can beat anybody out there.”

From the Daily Emerald to the LA Times

Mirjam Swanson arrived for coffee Sunday on Sunset Boulevard with her boarding pass still tucked inside a book.

The Los Angeles Times sports columnist had just flown back from Oklahoma City on Friday, covered the Lakers’ Game 3 loss to the Thunder in LA on Saturday and would head back to the arena Monday to put a bow on the 2026 playoffs for one of the biggest sports stories in the city.

It’s busy. It’s stressful. And it’s a long way from when Swanson, now 48, was passed over for staff positions at the University of Oregon’s Daily Emerald nearly 30 years ago.

I caught up with Swanson, a former UO student and eventual Daily Emerald sports editor, to talk about the challenges of covering LeBron James, the lessons she learned from early mistakes covering high school sports and the “healthy” chip on her shoulder she still carries.  

The Traffic Report

camera roll

When the next Lookout billboard campaign comes along, we might have problems squeezing my face on the sign if I get a few more LA road trips.
I forgot to get my mom a Mother’s Day gift, so I sat along the first baseline during batting practice on Saturday and wrote her a letter over on The I-5 Corridor.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I think the team walking away from this weekend is probably more confident than they’ve ever been, and very disappointed in the results. I think that puts a bow on it.”
— Oregon baseball coach Mark Wasikowski after the UCLA series

UPCOMING GAMES

  • Baseball vs. USC • 7:05 p.m. Thursday
  • Track and Field at Big Ten Outdoor Championships • Friday to Sunday
  • Softball vs. Idaho State (Eugene Regional) • 7 p.m. Friday
  • Baseball vs. USC • 6:05 p.m. Friday
  • Baseball vs. USC • 3:02 p.m. Saturday
  • Men’s golf at NCAA Regionals • Monday to Wednesday
  • The full Eugene Regional softball schedule can be found here.

STORIES I’m WORKING ON

Lookout is going to be at The Jane over the weekend for the Eugene Regional, and we’ll be continuing our baseball and softball postseason coverage throughout next week.

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It’s time to play ball,

Tyson

Tyson Alger covered the Ducks for The Oregonian and The Athletic before branching out on his own to create and run The I-5 Corridor. He brings more than a decade of experience on the University of Oregon sports beat. He has covered everything from Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning season to the Ducks’ first year in the Big 10.