02 Aug 2025 | Professional golf | Women and girls | Tournaments | Golf Australia |
Understandably, Steph Kyriacou admitted she wasn’t in a great mood on Thursday of the AIG Women’s Open after a 2-over round with a misbehaving putter. The Sydneysider’s smile returning on Friday with her first official hole-in-one among other heroics.
Arriving at the 98 metre par-3 eighth, having made seven straight pars in the second round, Kyriacou struck a perfect gap wedge that slammed into the hole for an ace, that unfortunately for the pocket rocket, went unsighted.
“I’m not tall enough to see over the wall. A pretty good shot. I didn’t see it go in, which sucked, but the crowd went nuts, and I heard the flag,” Kyriacou said of the ace.
“Didn’t damage the hole, which was surprising, so it was quite clean. But yeah, my first official hole-in-one with no asterisk.
“I had a hole-in-one in a practice round for a pre-qual. There was witnesses, first ball, but it’s not really the real deal, is it? Hopefully this one there’s footage.”
The momentum, and shot that took her back to even par and on the projected cutline with plenty of golf to play in Round 2, delivering a birdie at the par-5 next.
Kyriacou looking to take advantage of low scores on offer, most notably for Japan’s Miyu Yamashita who authored a 7-under 65 to set the clubhouse lead at 11-under.
However, Kyriacou’s hot run would end at just two holes, with bogey at the 10th, before coming back to life courtesy of another par-3, the 12th, where she made the first of two consecutive birdies until Royal Porthcawl’s finishing stretch bared its teeth.
Bogey at 14 was followed by dropped shots at 15, 16 and 17, and the look of someone unable to alight the bogey train.
Back to her starting score of 2-over for the tournament, the 24-year-old gave her drive up the par-5 18th a little extra to alleviate some frustration, only for her second shot to find the greenside bunker.
Playing back into the wind, she struck a perfect shot again, with the ball bouncing and spinning before dropping into the hole for eagle.
“I had a good lie in the bunker, which is pretty lucky because you can get actually reamed in these bunkers. I had a good lie into the wind. It was uphill. Pretty easy shot from the bunker for sure,” she said.
“I have a bet with my caddie, Wei, which I didn’t do last year. It was 10 hole-outs for the year, but I only got up to six. So I owe him a pair of shoes. This year I’m on 9, and I’ve got to get to 10. I think that’s why I like holing out.”
A cheery Kyriacou headed for lunch and certain weekend golf as part of the Aussie major winning hat-trick chase.
“It’s nice when you go and play well. You always want Aussies to win, but it would be nice if I could get one. If any Aussie won a major this year or this week, I think it would be pretty cool,” Kyriacou said.
The Australians with the best scores from Round 1, Minjee Lee, Grace Kim and Gabi Ruffels out in the afternoon wave as they attempt to follow in Kyriacou’s footsteps and make their own leaderboard charges.
All four rounds of the AIG Women’s Open will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo.
