A stunning walk-off eagle has vaulted St. Michael’s Stephanie Kyriacou into a six-way tie for second in the LPGA’s first Major of the year, the Chevron Championship, at The Woodlands, Texas.
Coming to the 18th and sitting comfortably inside the top 10, the 22-year-old pulled off a ‘first’ for herself by holing out for the first time in her young professional career.
“I had 89 metres, and my caddy was like, ‘you’ve got one more shot, try like stick it in there’.”
“I was just trying to hit it close to be honest, and then it went in.”
Earlier, Kyricoau began the opening Major for the year well, running in five straight pars before birdies at the 6th, 7th, and 8th saw her surge to three under and a share of the lead.
Spot-on shot from Stephanie Kyriacou to close out her first round @Chevron_Golf 🎯 pic.twitter.com/k4E7TxcKcE
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 20, 2023
A bogey on the 10th slowed her momentum, but seven straight pars on the testing back nine helped keep her in the mix.
Then came the spectacular finish.
“I’ve never holed out in a professional tournament before, so it’s pretty cool,’ she explained in her post-round media conference.
Kyriacou described the round as one of her best this year and a refreshing change from what she described as a ‘bit of a slow start’ to her season.
“I played pretty solid today.
“I made a few good up-and-downs, holed a couple of long putts, and stuck a few in close. Overall, it was just a good day of golf.”
“Last year was a bit tough. I learned a lot about travelling in America and playing on the LPGA. So in the off-season, I took that away and worked hard on the stuff I needed.”
“I am kind of getting back into the swing of things, back into tournament golf and that has been good.
“It’s been a bit slow for me, so it’s nice to see some good results here and there.
But it’s only day one. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be as good as today,” she smiled.
RELATED LINKS:
Leaderboard
Taiwan’s Peiyun Chien leads the tournament at five under, one shot ahead of the group of Kyriacou, Nelly Korda, Marina Alex, Chella Choi, Lilia Vui, and Japan’s Ayaka Furue.
Next best Aussie is Queensland’s Karis Davidson and Minjee Lee at minus two, with Hannah Green and last week’s winner, Avondale’s Grace Kim, left some work to do to make the cut at plus three. Sarah Kemp rounds out the Aussie contingent another shot back at four over.
