Stephanie Kyriacou and Minjee Lee were among the standout Australian golfers as the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl concluded a notable major season.
Kyriacou made headlines with her play on Sunday, nearly achieving a second hole-in-one in three days at the par-3 fifth. Her playing partner, Mim Rhodes, followed by hitting Kyriacou’s ball before hers dropped into the cup for an ace. “We actually just watched the video, and it hit my ball, and it went in. So I’m kind of claiming it, even though Mimi is probably not going to say that,” said Kyriacou.
Kyriacou finished tied for eighth after carding five birdies on her way home. It was her fourth top 10 finish in a major championship. She commented on her round: “The first hole was quite rough. It’s not ideal when you hit your second ball OB, onto the beach,” adding later, “I stuck in there, showed some grit, and finished 1-under today. I’m very happy.”
Minjee Lee wrapped up her season with a tie for 13th place at Royal Porthcawl but earned recognition as the first two-time winner of the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award. This follows her victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June and a third-place finish at the Amundi Evian Championship earlier this year.
Lee reflected on her season: “From where I was at the beginning of the year and obviously winning KPMG and played Chevron and had a good finish at Evian and all right at US Open and all right here… I’m going to say I’ve done pretty well,” concluding with “Maybe like an 8.5 (out of 10).”
In other results from Australians competing internationally:
– Karl Vilips tied for 19th at the Wyndham Championship but did not advance to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
– Adam Scott finished tied for 55th; he missed out on qualifying for only the second time since 2007.
– Cam Davis secured his spot in the Playoffs by finishing tied for 44th.
– In Japan Golf Tour action, Brad Kennedy missed the cut at Noto Country Club.
– On other tours including Korn Ferry Tour, LET Access Series, Epson Tour, Legends Tour, HotelPlanner Tour and PGA TOUR Americas events featuring Australians saw mixed outcomes with several missing cuts or placing outside contention.
Miyu Yamashita won the AIG Women’s Open with rounds of 68-65-74-70 (277), earning $US1.4625 million.
Results summaries show that Australian women remain competitive on global golf stages while their male counterparts face challenges advancing in major tour playoffs.
