13 Sep 2020 | Professional golf |
Stunning Kyriacou just short again
by Mark Hayes
Steph Kyriacou’s European roll continued overnight – and it required something extra special to keep from her another victory.
Kyriacou, a member at St Michael’s, finished runner-up to Amy Boulden in the Swiss Ladies Open at Golfpark Holzhausern, north of Lucerne.
It is the second consecutive top-five finish for the Sydneysider on the Ladies European Tour following her fifth place in the Czech Republic last time out a fortnight ago and making the cut at the Women's Open on her major championship debut.
And, at 14 under in the three-round tournament, it took a Boulden special to overcome Kyriacou, remarkably still in her fifth tournament as a professional.
The Welsh ace began in the final group, with Kyriacou in the group preceding her and trailing by two strokes.
But it quickly became a two-woman race.
The pair had white-hot and almost matching 31s on the outward nine, leaving Kyriacou no choice but to attack even harder in the closing stretch as they cleared out from their rivals.
She made birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, but had to dip her lid when Boulden responded in kind and then made two more birdies on the 13th and 14th to break away.
Kyriacou responded with one of her own on the 16th, but the gap was too broad as both women parred in from there.
The end result of their shootout was a combined 15 birdies and, incredibly, zero bogeys – the Welshwoman’s 64 enough to enable her to reach 17 under, three clear of the 19-year-old Aussie.
“Amy played really well so I am happy for her,” Kyriacou said.
“I am really happy with my result; my aim was to come top 10 and I am pleased to achieve that.
“I think my first round (71) was a slow start with the putter, but it fired up the last few days.”
It moved Kyriacou, who won the Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville as an amateur earlier this year, to second on the LET rookie of the year standings and into the top 10 of the tour’s Race to Costa Del Sol rankings.
It was Boulden’s first win in 87 attempts on the LET and she was understandably thrilled and relieved having not made a bogey in the event’s final 37 holes.
“I am really happy with how I handled the pressure and how I put my foot down on the gas when I needed to,” Boulden said.
“I’m looking forward to playing more like this and being in these positions more often, this is where I want to be.”
Perth’s Whitney Hillier fired a closing 72 to share 24th place at three under.
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