The AIG Women’s Open field, especially those playing in the afternoon, must have thought Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, who sits 11-under and leads by three shots, was playing a different golf course during the second round.
Out early, the diminutive 22-year-old fired a seven-under 65 as strong winds wreaked havoc, particularly on Royal Porthcawl’s back nine, where the Australians were among those who battled the elements, with only Steph Kyriacou, Grace Kim and Minjee Lee surviving the halfway cut.
RELATED: Watch Steph Kyriacou’s SLAM DUNK hole-in-one
Defending champion Lydia Ko is the lone Kiwi of their trio to make the weekend, with her two-over total matched by Lee and Kim, while Kyriacou made her way around in a rollercoaster two-under 70 to climb more than 60 places and head the Australian charge on even-par in a tie for 28th.
Kyriacou’s steady diet of pars to start her day changed rapidly when the two-time Ladies European Tour winner made a hole-in-one at the par-3 eighth that she followed with a birdie at the par-5 ninth to make the turn in three-under.
“I actually didn’t know. I didn’t want to celebrate if it didn’t go in the hole,” Kyriacou said of the ace struck with a gap wedge from just less than 100 metres.
“I thought maybe it hit the flag and just went somewhere, so the reaction is probably pretty cool for a hole-in-one. I just gave a running high-five when we got to the green.”
Despite the joy of her first official hole-in-one, Kyriacou’s day took a more sinister turn as she mixed two birdies with a bogey early in the back nine, before four consecutive bogeys from the 14th hole had her two-over and in danger of falling victim to the cutline, which eventually fell at two-over.
Aware her fate, Kyriacou’s was mostly in her hands as she played the 18th, where a greenside bunker shot needed to settle close for a birdie chance and weekend golf at a major for the fourth time this year.
Going one better, the St Michael’s Golf Club member hit a perfect splash shot that found the bottom of the cup for eagle and a two-under round.
“I had a feeling it was around even or one-over. I didn’t think two-[over],” she said of the expected cut.
“I was kind of coming down the last thinking I had to make a birdie, but eagle will do.”
Hours later and after a tough front nine without a birdie, Kim also needed some magic coming home to guarantee playing 72 holes.
Bogeys at the 10th, 15th and 16th holes were only offset by a lone birdie at the par-5 13th, with Kim unsure of the precarious situation she was in playing the 18th.
“To be honest, I didn’t know the cut was at two-[over],” Kim said after draining a birdie putt at the par-5 last to get back to two-over.
“I thought it was easily at three or four, so I wasn’t very stressed, but I’m glad that putt went in.”
Set for an early morning tee-time in the third round, Kim was careful to not raise expectations too high of an early charge given her experience with links golf and British weather.
“Obviously we are in the UK, so it’s not always guaranteed you’re going to have a calm morning. Obviously [I need to] take that early tee-time and make the most of it,” she said.
“I didn’t have that many birdies. Probably had a lot more bogeys today, so hopefully a lot less and a lot more birdies tomorrow.”
Also hoping for more birdies on Saturday will be Lee, who failed to register one on Friday when her streak of 10 straight pars was broken with bogey at the 11th. A hat-trick of dropped shots starting at the 14th hole led to a 76.
Kyriacou’s thoughts of how to approach the weekend likely shared by her compatriots looking for a strong finish to the major season.
“I think it’s just kind of having a bit of luck with the elements,” she said. “I think having a bit of that and having the foot on the gas this weekend will get me close.”
Close was also the word for Gabi Ruffels, whose birdie at the 18th proved too little, too late in a four-over round that saw her fall one shot shy of the cutline.
Australasian scores
T-28 Steph Kyriacou, Even
T-54 Minjee Lee, +2
T-54 Grace Kim, +2
T-54 Lydia Ko, +2
MC Gabi Ruffels, +3
MC Amelia Garvey, +3
MC Hira Naveed, +5
MC Momoka Kobori, +7
MC Cassie Porter, +8
MC Karis Davidson, +9
MC Hannah Green, +12
MC Kirsten Rudgeley, +13
