THE ANNIKA DRIVEN BY GAINBRIDGE AT PELICAN

November 12, 2023

Stephanie Kyriacou

Pelican Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Stephanie Kyriacou after her final round at The ANNIKA. Solid round today. Can you walk us through your round. Maybe talk through any pressures you were feeling too out there.

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: Yeah, I played pretty good the whole day. I hit some pretty awful drives, but other than that, everything was pretty consistent. Holed some good putts for par. I knew going into today I needed a good round and a good finish to maybe get into CME. I've got no idea how that's going, but hoping I've done enough.

But, yeah, it was a different experience for me.

Q. And was that something you were thinking through your entire round today, or were you pushing it out of your mind?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: It definitely came up, but I think I found ways to work around it.

That was on the line before the tournament even started, so I was just happy I had an opportunity to even get into CME.

Q. How tough is it to play with your back against the wall like that with that much riding on something?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: Yeah, today I definitely found it pretty tough. I mean, even before the round started I was quite nervous.

But my caddie kind of just said, you know, it's another round of golf. Like, yeah, there is more riding on it, but you've played good up until now not thinking about that, so let's just try to go out there and do it again.

Q. How proud are you to post this kind of round and play this way on Sunday when you knew what you had to do?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: I'm pretty, yeah, pretty proud of myself. Definitely made some clutch pars coming in there, but, yeah, it's great. It is great.

Q. How would you sum up your year in general in terms of trajectory as you enter the last event the season, compared to last year?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: Yeah, I would say this year was a bit steadier. I made more cuts this year and learnt a lot. Definitely had some waves in there as wall. Played good in the middle of the year. Played good at the start of the year. Then there was that in between like phase.

But it's just, yeah, last event of the season. Happy to finish on a high.

Q. It's different than the men in that once you get in field anyone has a chance to win the $2 million. There is obviously no carryover from the rest of the year.

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: Yeah.

Q. Do you like that format? Does that energize you a little bit?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: As in next week?

Q. Yeah.

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: I mean, I would say there is less pressure because there is no cut. You made it there, you're there for a reason. You might as well go shoot the lights out.

Q. How influential was Karrie to you throughout your career?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: I would say pretty influential. To be honest, I didn't watch her much growing up because I didn't enjoy watching golf. Now I can call her a friend and I know lean on her whenever I need to.

Yeah, she's really good with all of us Aussie girls. It's nice to call her a friend.

Q. Best advice she's given you?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: I was struggling with putting last year and she told me to putt with my eyes close. Not on the course, as a drill.

Q. And it helped?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: Yeah, helped a lot.

Q. Regardless of how things end up today, anything you're looking forward to doing in the off-season to kind of keep on track for next year?

STEPHANIE KYRIACOU: Yeah, I think there is some more off-course stuff I'm looking forward to. Definitely looking forward to a big break. That is number one.

Yeah, there is some stuff me and my team are going to speak about and hopefully stay on top of for next year.

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