Australia’s Steph Kyriacou provided the early fireworks on the second day of the British Women’s Open with a rollercoaster round that included a spectacular hole-in-one at the eighth.
She had only one par on the back nine at Royal Porthcawl, in Wales, making two birdies, five bogeys and a chip-in eagle at the 18th to make the cut at golf’s last major of the year.
But everyone wanted to talk about her slam dunk hole-in-one at the eighth.
“I don’t know — I’m not tall enough to see over the wall,” she laughed.
“Yeah, a pretty good shot. I didn’t see it go in, which sucked, but the crowd went nuts, and I heard the flag. Didn’t damage the hole, which was surprising, so it was quite clean. But my first official hole-in-one with no asterisk. Pretty excited.
“I didn’t want to celebrate if it didn’t go in the hole. I thought maybe it hit the flag and just went somewhere, so the reaction is probably pretty cool for a hole-in-one. I just gave a running high five when we got to the green,” she added.
Asked about the “asterisk”, Kyriacou explained: “I had a hole-in-one in a practice round for a prequel. There were witnesses, first ball, but it’s not really the real deal, is it?”
Conditions in Wales were tricky, she added. “That stretch at the end is really difficult, especially with how much it’s blowing now. It’s kind of a bit of a blow. It doesn’t feel like I made four bogeys on those holes. Honestly, if you play those four holes at one-over, you’re doing pretty well.
“I had a good line in the bunker (at the 18th), which is pretty lucky because you can actually get creamed in these bunkers. I had a good lie into the wind. It was uphill. Pretty easy shot from the bunker for sure.”
Meanwhile, her team were looking forward to celebrating that hole-in-one. “I think everyone is going to use it as an excuse to get drunk on my team. I’m happy to do that for them (laughter).”
Women’s Open
Leaderboard (36 holes)
Miyu Yamashita (JAP) – 11-underRio Takeda (JAP) – 8-underLaura Fuenfstueck (GER) – 4-underChiara Tamburlini (SWI) – 4-underPajaree Anannarukarn (THA) – 4-underLindy Duncan (USA) – 4-under
Japan’s Miyu Yamashita took advantage of calmer conditions to surge into the lead with a superb second-round 7-under 65.
She finished 11-under, with compatriot and joint overnight leader Rio Takeda three shots adrift.
England’s Lottie Woad, the bookmakers’ favourite, mounted a charge, but a triple-bogey at the 16th meant she carded a 2-under 70 to be nine shots adrift at halfway.
Difficult afternoon conditions meant the cut came at 2-over par, with only Kyriacou, Grace Kim (2-over) and Minjee Lee (2-over) making it to the weekend.
Gabriela Ruffels (3-over), Hira Naveed (5-over), Cassie Porter (8-over), Karis Davidson (9-over), Hannah Green (12-over) and Kirsten Rudgeley (13-over) all missed out.
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Reigning champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand just made the cut after a disappointing round of 73 left her 2-over. Definitely missing the weekend is 2023 winner Lilia Vu, who finished at 7-over-par.
World number one Nelly Korda struggled with her putting in an even-par 72 round that left her level with Woad.
American Lindy Duncan shot a 70 to be 4-under along with Swiss player Chiara Tamburlini (69), Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn (69) and Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck (71).
Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom was a further stroke back in a group on 3-under after a 69 fired her up the leaderboard.
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