Leona Maguire held off the field to win the LPGA Drive On Championship at a new venue, Crown Colony, on tour in Fort Myers, Florida. The tournament was a three-day event that finished on Saturday; Maguire shot a 5-under final round for a total score of 18-under par to win by three strokes.
“I mean, it’s huge for Irish golf,” said Maguire. “There was never an Irish player on the tour, let alone a winner. Hopefully there’s a lot of people watching at home tonight with big smiles on their faces, and little girls watching hoping that they one day can” (also do it).
Maguire had five top tens last year and has an excellent record in the Solheim Cup. She was also a four-time First Team All-American at Duke University, and held the record as the #1 ranked player in Women’s Amateur Golf for 135 weeks.
Maguire stated it has been a long road with many to thank, and that her caddy, Dermot Byrne, was incredible on the bag.
“It’s a bit surreal,” said Maguire. “It’s been 17 years in the making, and you kind of wonder if it’s ever going to happen. ”I knew my game was close. A lot of hard work in the off-season, and finally got there.”
Lexi Thompson made an eagle on the par-4 10th hole, to shoot a low round with a 65, and finish second at 15-under.
“I played with Leona the first two days and she’s been hitting it amazing,” said Thompson.
Sarah Scmelzel had her best finish on tour finishing third with a round of 64, and 14-under total.
Marina Alex was tied with Maguire coming into the final round but shot even par to tie for fourth at -13, alongside Patty Tavatanakit (Thailand), Stacy Lewis, Brittany Altomare, and Xiyu Lin (China).
Tied for 11th at 11-under are Brooke Henderson (Canada), Charley Hull (England), Cheyenne Knight, and Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand).
Nelly Korda tied for 15th, at 10-under, alongside Madelene Sagstrom (Sweden) and three others.
The LPGA Tour heads to the Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore for the HSBC Women’s World Championship on March 2–5.
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