St Michael’s Stephanie Kyriacou has stormed into the Final Stage of the LPGA Tour Q-Series with a stunning nine-under-par 63 in the final round of the opening Stage in Mobile, Alabama.
Despite suffering the effects of Jet lag earlier in the week, Kyriacou stormed home with a back nine of six-under 30 on the Crossings Course to finish tied for fourth, six shots behind medallist Pauline Roussin-Bouchard.
Of added importance is that her 13-under par total will carry forward to week two, putting the 21-year-old in a beautiful position to join Minjee Lee Hannah Green and fellow New South Welshman Sarah Kemp on the LPGA Tour in 2022.
“It’s a marathon these two weeks,” Kyriacou said.
“It is a new week, new course. I don’t think the weather is going to be that great next week, so honestly anything can happen. Just try and not get ahead of myself.”
The top 74 players from Stage I have advanced to Stage II to be played at the Highland Oaks Golf Course starting Thursday, where they will be trying to snare one of 45 cards up for grabs on the 2022 LPGA Tour.
Kyriacou said it was her round of 69 on the more difficult Falls Course on Saturday, which gave her the belief a low score was possible in her final round.
“In the practice rounds I found this course a bit easier than the other one,” she added.
“Then I had a good round on the other one yesterday, and I just kind of thought, Oh, yeah, let’s go low today.
“Everything just clicked. Over the last couple of days, some things were working, and some things weren’t, and then today, they just both were in sync.
“It was just a really good day.”
It’s been a whirlwind 22 months for Kyriacou since her breakout performance at the Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville. Her dominant eight-stroke win and subsequent decision to turn professional became one of the most critical sliding door moments of her life.
With all of her playing cohort in lockdown and stuck on the sidelines, unable to do more than play a few holes at St Michael’s herself, Steph admitted the chance when it came to get to Europe and finally compete was fortuitous.
“I’ve been very lucky in a sense. I always grateful, but, it’s still been a rollercoaster.”
Kyriacou added a second LET win to her resume at the 2021 Big Green Egg Open earlier this year, made the cut in her first two major appearances, and added 12 top 10 finishes for the year to her resume as well.
With her world ranking now at an all-time high of 77, the third-highest Australian after major champions Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, Kyriacou is now within sight of a place on the LPGA for 2022.
“Lots of confidence now.” Kyriacou grinned.
