Frustrating fifth place for Mehaffey in Peru
Sofía García and Juan Álvarez with their respective trophies
Olivia Mehaffey finished with a frustrating 12 pars in a row to end up just two strokes behind winner Sofía García in the South American Amateur Championship in Peru.
As Colin Fairweather tied for ninth in the men’s championship behind Uruguay’s Juan Álvarez, Mehaffey closed with a one under 71 to finish fifth on five under par.
The world No 11 — two off the lead starting the day — bogeyed the par-five first and while she birdied the second and the sixth, she could only look on as García birdied the 18th to break out of a four-way share of the lead with Argentina’s Magdalena Simmermacher, England’s Bronte Law and Peru’s Lucía Gutiérrez and take the title.
I don't even know what I just witnessed out there today... Frustrating doesn't even come close
— Olivia Mehaffey (@OliviaMehaffey) January 24, 2016
Simmermacher missed a short birdie putt on the last, carding a 69 and after Law and Gutierrez both parred, Garcia sank her birdie putt to become the first woman to successfully defend the title.
Simmermacher (69), Law (71) and Gutiérrez (71), shared second spot on 282 with Mehaffey on 283 and Castletroy’s Chloey Ryan (76) tied for 39th on 310.
In the men’s championship, overnight leader Alvarez closed with a 70 yo win by one stroke from defending champion Scott Harvey of the US on 10 under par.
Knock talent Fairweather closed with a two over 74 to share ninth spot on level par with Massereene’s Tiarnan McLarnon also shooting 74 to share 26th on eight over.
Mehaffey and Ryan jetted out of Lima to Paris and then on to Lisbon for this week’s Portuguese International Ladies Amateur Championship at Montado, where they will be joined by Jessica Ross, Maria Dunne, Julie McCarthy, Paula Grant, Sinead Sexton, Mary Doyle and Mairead Martin. Entries
