Australian Ladies Classic report: What happened at Bonville Golf Resort?
Stephanie Kyriacou is yet to reach the professional ranks of golf but she has already made her name known by winning the first event on the LET schedule as an amateur.
The 19-year-old Australian proved that she is certainly one to watch in the coming years as she emphatically stormed to victory in her home country with a score of 22-under.
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Having opened up a two-shot lead after 54 holes the pressure that comes with leading a tour event was very much on the shoulders of Kyriacou and she was the one to be chased down.
Despite the magnitude of the situation she played her final round as if she had been in that position countless times.
It was crucial that she got off to a strong start and she did just that. Her front nine included six birdies and this saw her make the turn a huge 9 holes ahead of her competitors.
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She added a further two birdies and dropped her only shot of the day at the 16th before cruising to victory.
Due to her amateur status she was not eligible to receive any prize money which meant Ayean Cho who finished some eight shots behind in second place received the €36,000 winner’s share.
- Related: 2020 LET schedule
Kyriacou was understandably elated after closing out the win and said: “I’m lost for words and still on cloud nine. I think everything was going my way today. I was pretty confident going into the last round.
“I did get off to a good start. The first hole wasn’t great again, but after that I bounced back and had five birdies in a row. After that, I played a bit more defensive because I assumed I had a bit of a lead by then.
“On the last hole I was thinking about what would happen but I told myself to get a par and then worry about it.”
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Following the victory she has the opportunity to turn professional and become a member of the LET and the ALPG.
Sweden’s Linnea Strom took third and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh secured fourth while Anne van Dam and 36-hole leader Lauren Stephenson shared fifth.
Australian Ladies Classic report: Talking points
Some professional debuts are just better than others and LET rookie Linette Littau Durr Holmslykke won’t forget hers anytime soon.
After securing her card for the 2020 season the Dane wasted no time in getting out onto the course and while playing her final round she carded a brilliant ace at the par-3 17th.
The 24-year-old may have finished way down the leaderboard in a tie for 61st but the hole-in-one saw her win a Mitsubishi ASX car.
While she may well have traded that in to be in contention there are certainly worse ways to begin your professional career.
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