MAGUIRE SOARS WITH EAGLE TO BEST-EVER FINISH
CAVAN golfer Leona Maguire picked up a cheque for $125,834 after a stunning eagle on the 17th hole at the LPGA’s LOTTE Championship in Hawaii helped her into a tiedsecond finish. While New Zealand’s Lydia Ko took top spot, Maguire’s form suggests it is only a matter of time before Ireland celebrates its first winner on the LPGA Tour. It was her best finish and the joint-highest finish by an Irish woman on a major tour. The 26-year-old hit a final round of 67 to finish on 21-under as Ko shot a final-round 65 to win the tournament by seven strokes. Maguire’s final round came with that 17th-hole flourish, bouncing back from what was only her second bogey of the week on the 15th to show the full range of her talent. ‘I kept giving myself a lot of chances,’ she said afterwards. ‘Nine, 10, 11 just didn’t get those putts to drop. But I just played really solid all day. Hit my irons nice. Played smart. ‘I didn’t hit a great shot into 15 and three-putted that one and had a really nice up and down on 16. ‘I probably hit the best shot of the week on 17 to make that eagle which kind of made up for it and got a little bit lucky on 18. Didn’t hit my best shot into 18. Yeah, really happy with the week. I think it’s my best on the LPGA so far, so my first trip to Hawaii was a very productive one.’ On the European Tour, John Catlin defeated Maximilian Kieffer on the fifth hole of a dramatic play-off to claim a third win in eight months at the Austrian Open. Catlin won twice on the European Tour in three weeks in September last year and after moving back into the top 100 in the world, he is now aiming for that all-important top 50 and entry into the major championships. ‘Top 50 in the world opens up all doors - to play Majors, WGCs, the Players, a certain number of sponsor’s exemptions that’s basically my goal,’ he said. In the US, Shane Lowry shot a final-round 66 to finish on 11 under at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina, and likely secure a top-10 spot, with Stewart Cink on track to claim the title.