Stephanie Kyriacou has topped off an extraordinary first season on the Ladies European Tour by winning the 2020 ‘LET Rookie of the Year’ title.
Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou has claimed this year's prestigious 'LET Rookie of the Year’ title. The accolade completes a superb debut year as a professional for Kyriacou, who won the title by 92 points from England's Alice Hewson.
Kyriacou's remarkable year started in February when the teenager made an extraordinary breakthrough victory as a amateur at the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville, destroying the field of top pros to win by eight shots. Turning professional the following week, she joined the Ladies European Tour only to find, after one event, her new career was put on hold for almost six months because of coronavirus.
In August, with her dad in tow, the 19-year-old headed headed to Scotland, as the LET season restarted with the Scottish Open and AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon, only for the pair to end up stranded in Europe. Twice, their precious return flights to Australia were cancelled amid the global crisis. As Kyriacou explained:
"So, basically, we came for two events in Scotland over a fortnight and ended up flying all over Europe and the Middle East, playing eight tournaments in five countries over three-and-a-half months in the middle of a pandemic because we couldn’t get home."
For dad Nick, a keen club golfer, it was doubly challenging, having to run his building and property business in Australia from thousands of miles away while doubling as Steph’s factotum, manager, roommate and caddie.
Despite all those challenges and the fact that her breakthrough win did not count towards the title race, it did not stop the youngster proving herself to be the best new talent on the LET.
In what would turn out to be a three-and-a-half month roller coaster of a trip, she played in her first major championship, shot a course record, recorded five top ten finishes in eight starts, finished third in the 2020 LET Race to Costa Del Sol and pocketed a cool €84,272.43 in prize money.
As a result of her remarkable efforts, she becomes the third Australian to win the ‘LET Rookie of the Year’ title and joins an illustrious group, which includes major winners Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist and the 2020 Race to Costa del Sol winner Emily Pedersen.
Commenting on her achievement, Kyriacou said:
"It was one of my goals at the beginning of the year so I am glad that I could tick this one off the list. There are some big names on the trophy and one of my friends has been updating me every week on my progress and as the season went on, I started to think I had a good chance."
"When I was playing amateur events, I thought I was ready but then I was so nervous in the first few events as a professional. Once I had made a few mates on tour though, I started to feel more comfortable. People think I look calm out there, but I am feeling the nerves just as much as anyone. I am so happy to win this title."
Alexandra Armas, Ladies European Tour CEO, said:
"Stephanie burst on to the scene as an amateur back in February with a win at the Australian Ladies Classic in Bonville and has shown tremendous resilience in her first year as a professional. She has taken quickly to life on tour and kept us entertained with her exciting play on the course and easy-going attitude off it. She should be incredibly proud of her achievement and we look forward to watching her progress in the coming years."
As there is no 2020 LET Qualifying School and a category freeze across the board on the LET, the Australian star will still be a 'rookie' in 2021, giving her a chance to become the first-ever two-time ‘LET Rookie of the year’.
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