Stephanie Kyriacou’s fine start at Chevron Championship
Stephanie Kyriacou – photo Getty / LPGA
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou has made a fine start to her sixth major championship, producing an opening round of 68 to be just one off the lead at the Chevron Championship in Houston in Texas.
An eagle at her final day capped off what had already been a solid start to the event being played at the new venue, the Club at Carlton Woods north of Houston, for 22 year old Kyriacou
“I had 89 meters, so yeah, my caddie was just like, come on, you’ve got one more shot, try and stick it in there. I was just trying to hit it close, to be honest, and then it went in.
“Yeah, I was a little bit shocked to be honest. I’ve never had a hole-out in a professional tournament, so I guess that was pretty cool.”
The opening round was subject to weather delays but Kyriacou felt she hadn’t suffered unduly.
“I’d say it got a little bit softer on the greens, which was nice, but yeah, it only kind of rained for about four or five holes for us, and then it got called off, and then it didn’t rain for the rest, so I guess we were kind of lucky with what the weather was predicting. We kind of got away with it a little bit.
Kyriacou is building a good record in major championships so early in her career, having finished inside the top ten in two of her five appearances to date with a best of 7th at last year’s AIG Women’s Open Championship.
Kyriacou is in her second season on the LPGA Tour and although she had a more than satisfactory rookie season she feels it was a great learning curve for what is about to come.
“This year I think for me has been a bit of a slow start. Last year was a bit tough. I learnt a lot about traveling in America, playing on the LPGA. In the off-season I kind of like took that away with me and worked hard on the stuff I needed to.
“So I think just getting back into the swing of things, back into tournament golf and all that has been good, but yeah, it’s been a bit slow for me, so it’s nice to see some good results here and there. Yeah, it’s only day one, so hopefully the rest of the week is as good as today.”
Another second season LPGA Tour player Karis Davidson from the Gold Coast also did well. Davidson was required to return to the Tour School late last year but regained her playing rights and in just her first major championship has made an impressive start with a round of 70 to be tied for 9th.
World number four, Minjee Lee, with coach Ritchie Smith on the bag, is also at 2 under 70, Lydia Ko a 71, Hannah Green and Grace Kim 75, and Sarah Kemp 76.
