Australia’s Stephanie Kyriaocu produced the moment of the second round at the AIG Women’s Open with a stunning hole-in-one as Japan’s Miyu Yamashita ran away with the lead at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
Kyriacou, who is the best placed of the Australians at even par overall but 11 shots behind the leader, slam dunked her ace at the par-three eighth hole with a gap wedge for what she regards her first official hole-in-one.
The 24-year-old from Sydney said her previous aces had asterisks next to them as they came in practice rounds, but this one was the “real deal” despite her not seeing it go in.
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“I’m not tall enough to see over the wall,” Kyriacou said with a laugh.
“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 yeah, my first official hole-in-one with no asterisk. Pretty excited.”
She added: “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.”
As for the golf tradition of the player who makes a hole-in-one shouting the bar, Kyriacou is happy to oblige.
“I think everyone is going to use it as an excuse to get drunk on my team,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m happy to do that for them.”
The ace snapped a streak of seven straight pars and from that point on her two-under par round of 70 was anything but steady.
She birdied nine, bogeyed ten, birdied 12 and 13, but then made four straight bogeys from 14 to 17.
Kyriacou’s heroics for the day were not limited to her a hole-in-one however, as she holed out from a bunker for eagle at the par 5 18th.
“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 6,” Kyriacou said.
“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.”
The two most recent major champions Grace Kim and Minjee Lee were the only other Australians to make the cut and they did so on the number at +2.
Lee, who began the week with hopes of securing the career grand slam with a victory at a fourth major, slipped down the leaderboard with a four-over par 76, while Kim was only one shot better with a 75.
The Evian champion pushed herself inside the cut line with a birdie at the last.
“To be honest, I didn’t know the cut was at 2. I thought was easily at 3 or 4, so I wasn’t very stressed, but I’m glad that putt went in,” Kim said.
Six Australians failed to reach the weekend with Gabriela Ruffels (+3) missing by only a shot despite birding the last like Kim.
Hira Naveed (+5) fought back with a 71 but the damage was done in her first round, while Cassie Porter (+8), Karis Davidson (+9) and Kirsten Rudgeley (+13) were well off the pace.
It was an incredibly disappointing week for world No.11 Hannah Green (+12) who shot rounds of 79 and 77 to miss the cut by eight shots.
Green, who won three times on the LPGA last year, missed the cut at three of the five women’s majors this year, including in the final two of the season.
At the top of the leaderboard, Yamashita shot a bogey-free second round of 65 to move three shots clear of countrywoman and playing partner Rio Takeda.
Yamashita, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Saturday, was one of several players to take advantage of calmer conditions in the morning in south Wales following her first round of 68.
She set the clubhouse target at -11, while Takeda followed Thursday’s round of 67 with a three-under 69 to sit second.
The Japanese duo will play together again in Saturday’s final group, with a four-shot gap between Takeda and a trio of players at -4.
“My pairing with Takeda allowed us to play in (a) good rhythm,” Yamashita said.
“It’s rare for two Japanese players to play together in a major, so it was great.”
Yamashita, whose best performance in a major tournament was a tie for second place at last year’s Women’s PGA Championship, said her rhythm was behind Friday’s latest fine round.
“My tee shots were very consistent, so I was able to hit from the fairway,” she said. “I played really consistent golf today.
“I haven’t particularly worried about expected scores until now. I’m always thinking about competing for a high position in each tournament, and I just played with my day in mind, so I’m glad that my score worked out”.
England’s Lottie Woad looked on course to post a similar score to Yamashita in her second round before a triple-bogey seven on the par-four 16th.
Woad is -2, alongside American world No.1 Nelly Korda, who shot a level-par 72 in the second round.
Blustery conditions in the afternoon saw the cut mark slip back to two over par, allowing defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand to make it through to the weekend.
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