LONDON – Former Duke women’s golf standout Leona Maguire claimed her first Ladies European Tour (LET) title on Friday in dramatic fashion at the Centurion Club in London, England. Maguire, a 2018 Blue Devil graduate, eagled her final hole of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London to collect her fifth professional win.
With the victory, Maguire became the first Irishwoman to win on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
“I did it the hard way today, I feel like,” said Maguire. “It was tough out there; I didn’t play my best golf, but Dermot, my caddie, just kept saying be patient. He said right before that shot into 18, let’s hit shot of the year here. It was a perfect number, and my trusty hybrids came in useful once again.”
Maguire led the field through 18 and 36 holes in the individual competition, after rounds of 66 (-7) and 72 (-1).
In the final round, Maguire opened with back-to-back birdies to get to 10-under. She then struggled over a span of five holes (4-8) as Maguire dropped five shots and made the turn at 2-over, 39. With a birdie on No. 12, Maguire went back into a share of the lead with Alison Lee at 8-under. A bogey on No. 16 dropped Maguire back to 7-under and trailed by one stroke with two holes remaining.
Maguire hit an excellent second shot to leave herself with an eagle chance on No. 18 and she calmly rolled in the putt to make history on the LET and win with a total of 8-under-par, 211.
“I knew Alison [Lee] was making a run, I thought I would have to get to 10-under-par – that was the number I had in my head,” said Maguire. “I just hung in even when things weren’t going right and waited for a turn, and it was nice to finish in style on 18. I’m looking forward to the summer ahead and couldn’t ask for a better start.
“I was just trying to hit a good putt! It was a little bit like a Solheim Cup, I knew no Irishwoman had ever won on the LET before,” said Maguire. “That putt was for me, that putt was for my family and that putt was for Ireland. It was a proud moment.”
Spain’s Maria Hernandez finished in second place on seven-under-par after a bogey-free final round of 68 (-5). Three players finished in a share of third place with Ireland’s Lauren Walsh, America’s Alison Lee and England’s Georgia Hall all on six-under-par.
In the LET Order of Merit, Hernandez climbed up to sixth place in the Order of Merit with Walsh now 12th and Maguire has jumped from 134th to 28th place.
Next week the LET moves onto the fourth major of the year with the Amundi Evian Championship taking place at Evian Resort Golf Club from July 11-14.
Maguire has won twice on the LPGA (2023 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship) and two times on the Epson Tour (2019 Windsor Golf Classic, 2019 Epson Classic).
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Maguire Claims First LET Title in Dramatic Fashion – Duke University
