She may have finished seven shots behind champion Miyu Yamashita, but there has been no keeping Steph Kyriacou out of the action at the Women’s British Open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Friday, the 24-year-old from Sydney made the first hole-in-one of the championship on the eighth at Royal Porthcawl, in Wales.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then on Sunday, she unwittingly assisted with the second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
England’s Mimi Rhodes made a hole-in-one on the par-three fifth, but only because her tee shot glanced off playing partner Kyriacou’s ball a couple of inches from the hole.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Snooker-style, Rhodes’s ball ended up in the cup.<\/p>\n
Her shot would certainly have rolled past had it not been for the deflection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kyriacou had hit first and nearly made her second ace until her ball rolled just left of the hole.<\/p>\n
Asked if she was the luckiest person in golf, Kyriacou replied: “I am. 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.<\/p>\n
“I had no clue she’d hit my ball. We just heard everyone shout.”<\/p>\n
Besides setting some sort of record for holes in one, Kyriacou had a highly satisfactory final day, with five birdies in her 71. It left her 4-under-par and with a share of eighth place.<\/p>\n
“I think I’ve learned a lot in majors, which I’ll take into next year,” she said.<\/p>\n
Asked about her probable entry in the world top 10, and being the top-ranked Australian, she said: “There’s nothing wrong with friendly competition, but I haven’t got the win just yet. So when I do that, I’ll be a little bit more arrogant, I think.”<\/p>\n
Yamashita won by two shots to claim the first major of her career after keeping England’s Charley Hull and Japan’s Minami Katsu at bay.<\/p>\n
Yamashita finished 11-under after she sank three birdies on the front nine and remained steady on the back nine, until a late stumble with her first bogey on the par-four 17th.<\/p>\n
Hull mounted a spirited challenge with five birdies that brought her to within one shot of Yamashita.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th sealed her fate.<\/p>\n
Katsu also tied for second with a final-round score of 69.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Japan’s Miyu Yamashita holds up the Women’s Open trophy after her win. (Getty Images: Morgan Harlow)<\/p>\n
Australia’s Minjee Lee finished with a level-par 72 to end two-under-par and with a share of 13th place.<\/p>\n
“I feel like that’s probably the worst score I could have had today. I felt like I was going pretty well and then just kind of made a silly mistake on 14,” she said.<\/p>\n