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Ben Jared
Alfonso Ribeiro and Kira Kazantsev high five on the 18th hole during the first round of the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
By Alex Myers
As a former Miss America winner, Kira Kazantsev is used to showing off her skills in front of large audiences. Still, in front of a national TV audience, we wonder how the pressure of playing golf at Pebble Beach as a 16-handicapper compares to being on stage singing, walking around in a swimsuit or answering questions about achieving world peace. Regardless, Kazantsev is proving she’s pretty darn good at all of the above.
Playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, AKA the Super Bowl of Celebrity Golf, for the first time, Kazantsev made the three-day cut. That means she’ll be on CBS again for Sunday’s final round with her partner, PGA Tour pro Ryan Armour.
“I’m so excited! I’m here for the ladies and this has been an incredible experience,” Kazantsev told CBS’ Amanda Balionis after her round. “I got into this event Monday morning at 10 a.m. so to come down and make the cut, and my pro Ryan has just been amazing, so I’m just so happy to be here.”
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Even more impressive is that Armour isn’t having a good week. A two-over par through 54 holes, he missed the individual cut, meaning Kazantsev has more than carried the load for the team.
Kazantsev, 27, won the 2015 Miss America pageant representing New York, but she was born and still lives in nearby San Francisco, which came in handy with the late invite into the event.
Donald Kravitz
Kazantsev was one of 10 women amateurs/celebrities in the field, but the only female to make the cut (25 teams out of 156 make it through to Sunday’s final round). She has served as the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ director of digital channels and community engagement and she will host a show on Golf Channel that’s coming out later this month. But in the meantime, she’ll be trying to track down Ray Romano and others on a star-studded leader board on Sunday.
