Stephanie Kyriacou – file photo LET
The three Australians who this week attempted Final Stage qualifying for the 2022 LPGA Tour have successfully negotiated their way onto female golf’s biggest stage but it was not without a scare for two.
Sarah Jane Smith and Karis Davidson have both finished right on the cut off score of 4 under after recording rounds of 76 and 77 respectively in their eighth and final rounds of the 144-hole marathon.
The leading 45 players and ties all earned their LPGA Tour cards and both Smith and Davidson tied for 41st amongst the 46 players who made it through.
Sydney’s Stephanie Kyriacou, however, found the going a lot less stressful when she added a final round of 71 to finish in a share of 16th place and after two successful years on the Ladies European Tour, she has earned the right to play in female golf’s biggest arena in 2022.
Smith has, of course, played the LPGA Tour previously but for Davidson who has played in Japan for the best part of her three-year professional career, like Kyriacou, she is off to the LPGA Tour for the first time.
The Gold Coast based Davidson, who was born and raised in Scotland until her early teenage years, was forced to batten down the hatches after a horror outward nine of 41 which saw her fall outside the cutline.
That she was able to fight back with an inward nine of even par 36 highlights the sort of mental fortitude which will carry her in good stead in the years ahead on the LPGA Tour.
Smith has played the LPGA Tour for the last 13 years but she too fell victim to the pressures of Final Stage qualifying when dropping three shots in her last six holes for her round of 76 and one of the last places amongst the 46 players who earned their cards.
