Ireland’s Leona Maguire secured a top-10 finish at the LPGA Mediheal Championship in California Sunday.
The County Cavan woman carded a final round of two-under-par 70 which left her on six-under for the tournament – eight shots off winner Matilda Castren from Finland.
Her final round included four birdies and two bogeys giving her a highly respectable tied ninth position overall.
The 26-year-old Irish pro posted a lighting opening round of 65 that took her to the top of the leaderboard. She followed that up with a 73 on Day 2 and a 74 on Day 3.
“It could have been a lot better; could have been a lot worse,” Maguire said afterward, reflecting on a rollercoaster weekend.
Still, it was Maguires third Top 10 finish of the year and she netted $29,513 in the process – taking her total prize money for the season to $266,801.
“You have to put yourself in those positions to know how you’re going to react and then know what you did right and figure out what you would do differently next time,” she said.
“I’m just trying to learn all I can from these past two, three days… work that into hopefully when I’m in that position again.”
Maguire is looking to carry her good form into this week’s Meijer Classic for Simply Give tournament at Grand Rapids, Michigan and then onto the season’s third major – the KPMG LPGA Championship at John’s Creek in Georgia.
The Cavan woman had new caddie Dermot Byrne on the bag over the weekend. Byrne previously worked as a caddie for Shane Lowry for around nine years.
Maguire was ranked first in the world on the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking from May 2015 until May 2016.
Her next stint as number 1 was from August 2016 until February 2018. The 135-week streak at the top is the longest in history.
Maguire turned professional in 2018.
